


The Table by the Window

by Lover_of_Fairy_Tails



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Friendship, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-20
Updated: 2015-12-16
Packaged: 2018-04-10 06:30:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 40,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4380818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lover_of_Fairy_Tails/pseuds/Lover_of_Fairy_Tails
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lucy Heartfilia has enrolled as a Freshman at Magnolia State Univeristy, she works part time at a coffee shop to pay her living expenses. It is here that she meets a colorful character and they quickly start up a beautiful friendship, and maybe something a little more.<br/>(Modern-NaLu-Fairy Tail AU)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Table by the Window

**Author's Note:**

> This first chapter is really short, the other chapters will get longer.  
> I do not own Fairy Tail all characters were created by Hiro Mashima.

Oh crap, Lucy thought to herself, she had totally spaced when the guy ordering coffee had said his name, and he had already paid and walked away. Well he is the only guy with pink hair in the coffee shop, so she went ahead and wrote his most defining physical trait down on the cup.

A few minutes later she heard the guy who makes the coffee yell out the name "Pinkie" and place the cup down on the counter. Unsurprisingly no one looked up, so she knew she would have to get his attention another way.

"Excuse me sir over at the table by the window with the pink hair, your coffee is ready", Lucy called out over the small shop. This at least got his attention, along with everyone else's.

The man pointed to himself and called back, "Are you talking to me?"

"Yes", Lucy huffed out, "Your coffee is ready".

The man stood, picked up his coffee, then walked strait up to Lucy, "Why would you write Pinkie on here I told you my name is Natsu and I don't have pink hair?"

"Ummm then what color do you think it is", seriously had this guy ever looked at himself?

"Clearly it's salmon," the guy, whose name was Natsu, answered with a strait face.

"Ok Mr. salmon and not pink hair, I hope you enjoy your coffee", Lucy said with a smile.

"I will, kya-kyah", Natsu answered with a boisterous cackling laugh, "See ya later".

What the heck, Lucy thought as she watched Natsu walk out of the coffee shop with a huge grin on his face.


	2. Fire Dragon Slayer

True to his word Natsu walked into the coffee shop the next week, "Hello, I will take an espresso today and remember my name is Natsu" he said with a playful smile.

"Sure thing", Lucy replied and smiled back. After he had paid and walked over to the table by the window Lucy chuckled to herself while pulling out her sharpie, this will be fun.

A few minutes later Lucy heard the barista call out "Mr. Salmon Hair". Natsu immediately looked up at the barista then over at Lucy who was trying to contain a laugh.

Natsu picked up his coffee then walked over to Lucy, "Really Mr. Salmon Hair, well at least you got my hair color right this time."

"Well yes making the customers happy is a part of my job."

Natsu laughed and turned but instead of leaving he went back over to his table. He sat in the shop for about twenty minutes drinking his coffee and scrolling through his phone, and every now and then Lucy would notice him glance over at her. After finishing his coffee he stood up, gave a little smile and wave to Lucy, and walked out. She raised her hand to wave back but the door had already closed behind him.

The next week when she saw him walk in through the door Lucy found herself smiling a little.

"Hello, I will take a frappuccino today, it is hot outside. Oh and remember my name is Natsu."

"Coming right up".

She wanted to continue her little name game, but knew that she could not use his hair color anymore. Then she noticed his shirt, it was bright red and had a fire breathing dragon on it.

A few minutes later she heard the barista call out "Fire Dragon Slayer". Natsu looked up at the barista then down at his shirt and laughed.

After picking up his coffee he ask Lucy, "So I see where you got fire dragon from, but what about the slayer part."

"Well, you look like the type who would enjoy fighting dragons if he could", she admitted shyly then added, "it's probably all the scars." She had noticed them the first time he had come in he had quite a few scars on his hands, arms, and legs. Although she did not like fighting and had never been in a fight she had seen boys at her school fight and the marks it left of their bodies afterwards.

"Oh yeah", he said as he looked down at his arms, "I do like a good fight", his head snapped up and his eyes flashed with excitement, "and fighting a dragon would be totally awesome." Then, if possible, he looked even more excited, "You know what would be even better having dragon powers, then I could totally kick that ice prick's butt."

Lucy let out a small laugh at Natsu who was now clearly imagining fighting whoever this ice prick was with his dragon powers. "Umm Natsu your coffee is going to get all watered down if you do not drink it soon."

"Huh", Natsu said as he came out of his daydream, "Oh right, and thanks for the awesome new nickname", with that he turned around and walked back over to his table. As he drank his coffee she noticed that he was typing furiously away at his phone and laughing out loud every few minutes after what she assumed were texts coming in. When he finished his coffee he walked back to the counter, "I just texted all my friends and told them they had to call me fire dragon slayer from now on, they wanted me to thank you for adding to my ego or something like that," he flashed her a bright smile and turned to walk out of the shop. When he got to the door he briefly turned back and called out, "Well see you next week" and left the shop.


	3. The English Major

It was the next week; to be exact it was Tuesday at 9:10 A.M., which Lucy had noted was about the same time he had come in previously. It was not like she was waiting for him, or had looked back at her work schedule to see what day of the week he had come in on his last visits, no that would be weird. The sound of the door chime made her snap up her head from cleaning the counter to check to see if it was him, the sight of salmon colored hair made a pleasant feeling wash over her. When his eyes meet hers his face lit up in a smile and Lucy could tell that she was smiling equally as bright.

"Hello", she called and gave a little waggle of her fingers, "What can I get you today Natsu?"

"Hi, I need an espresso today I had a test this morning."

"Well I hope you did well on it, your coffee will be coming right up." With that he paid and walked over to the little table he always sat at. The coffee shop was pretty empty now and Lucy was tired already since she had helped open up this morning at six. That is when an impulse struck her she asked her manager if she could take a break; she then made herself a coffee and grabbed Natsu's from the barista.

 

Natsu liked sitting at the little table he could look out the window and watch the students walking around campus, and he could also easily look over at the blonde girl who took his coffee order; which reminded him he did not know her name. Three weeks ago when he came in the first time he really hadn't been planning on making this a weekly ritual, but after his conversation with the girl something had drawn him to her. The sound of something hitting the table pulled him out of his thoughts. He looked and saw a cup with his name written on it, and then he noticed the slender hand holding onto it. Lucy stood there with a little smile on her face holding another coffee cup in her other hand.

"Does the shop do delivery now or am I just special?"

"I guess you're just special." Lucy replied quickly then blushed a little as her own words sunk in.

Natsu smirked up at her and took the cup from her hand, "Thank you."

"Actually I just took a break, would you mind if I sat with you?" She looked a little nervous when she asked, like she was trying to decide if this was a good idea or not.

"Of course", the thought of talking and having a coffee with her made a happy little bubble well up in his chest.

"My name is Lucy, by the way, I don't think I ever got to introduce myself to you."

Natsu laughed and reached his hand across the table, "Well it is nice to finally meet you Loony".

Lucy halted her hand that she was about to shake his with and made a pouty face, "It's Lucy."

"Kyah-kya whatever you say Luigi", Natsu laughed out.

With a sly smile Lucy finally extended her hand out and shook his, "Well it is nice to meet you too, Pinkie."

"Hey it's salmon, and you are supposed to call me fire dragon slayer."

"Oh yeah I will definitely do that from now on," she said with a little roll of her eyes, "So are you a student here?"

"Yep, I am a freshman at Magnolia State University, what about you?"

"Yes, I'm a freshman too. So what are you studying?"

"Nothing yet, I have no idea what I want to do with my life. Have you picked a major already?"

"Yes I have, I'm getting an English major, so that I can write stories that everyone can enjoy." As she said this he noticed she got a far away look in her eyes and a fond smile spread across her face. "My mother used to tell me beautiful stories about the stars. Her stories would make me feel so wonderful that I would always want to share them with other people. Before long I started to make up my own stories, although mine were no where as good as hers. One day I want to share my stories with other people and hopefully they will make them feel as wonderful as my mother's stories made me feel." She abruptly stopped, "Oh wow I am talking a lot, sorry I just get excited when I think about it."

"No it's fine, and I bet you can write awesome stories too."

Lucy blushed again then lifted her coffee cup up to her mouth to cover her excited smile, "Thank You."

They continued to sip their coffee and talk about their new lives as college students for a few more minutes before Lucy said she had to get back to work. When Natsu reached the door he turned and waved goodbye to her and gave a call, "See ya next week Lucy", then walked out into the bright sunshine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be told through both points of view.


	4. Surprises

Much to Lucy's surprise the next time she saw Natsu was not the next week, but instead a few days later on Friday.

"Hey", she said in greeting as he reached the counter, "I was not expecting you till next week, but we are always happy to see a customer."

"Yeah one of my classes got canceled, So I decided to come in and see yo….. I mean come in and get a coffee." Natsu blushed slightly at his admission, "I think I will have another espresso today, I had so much energy after that last one. My friend Levy always talks about having to drink her coffee in the morning, but I had no idea it could give you that much energy."

This did not surprise Lucy, actually two things didn't. First that he was coming in for more than just the shop's coffee and second that he might not have that much experience drinking espressos by the way he grimaced every time he would sip from the tiny cup. "Okay, I will bring that right over to you. I mean if it is alright that I come and sit with you again?"

"Of course it is" and with that he walked over to the table.

Lucy made his and her coffees then went and sat across from him, "So you talk about your friends a lot did you meet them in classes?"

"No actually we all grew up here together."

"Really so you are from Magnolia?"

"Yes, well I came here when I was about ten and some of the others were already living here or came soon after that."

"Wow so you and your childhood friends all went to the same college in the town you live in, that's pretty cool."

"Well not everyone, but most did because we got a large tuition discount because of the home we grew up in."

This caused Lucy to pause because he just said home WE grew up in, "We", she asked questioningly, "as in you all grew up in the same home?"

"Yep, Fairy Tail; Home for Children."

This caused Lucy to stop completely, everyone that lived in Magnolia had heard of Fairy Tail it was a large orphanage that overlooked the lake, and although she had not lived here that long she had heard enough gossip about the kids that lived there. Most of the gossip she had heard started with 'Those delinquents at Fairy Tail', and although she was not sure if any of them were actually juvenile delinquents or not she knew they were quit the rambunctious bunch. Some of what she had heard included fighting in the middle of town, loud explosions coming from the orphanage, a fountain being frozen, and one of the kids had an affinity for weaponry. Looking at Natsu with his bright pink hair, scars, and super mischievous smile it was no wonder people thought he was a hoodlum. She also realized she had been staring at him with her mouth open this whole time. "So, umm, you are an orphan from Fairy Tail and all of your friends are too, I have actually heard a lot of talk at the shop about you guys."

"Really?", he looked way to excited, "Is it good things? I am pretty sure the towns people love us."

"I am not sure if that is true they mostly refer to you guys as delinquents who cause property damage."

Natsu slammed a hand down on the table, "Hey that was all Gray and Erza's fault, and it was only a little damaged."

"Okay, calm down, I believe you." That's when another thought hit her they were all orphans, none of them had families.

"Hey, are you ok?"

Lucy looked up at Natsu who had a worried look on his face, "Yeah, I am fine I just…"

"You just thought about how none of us have parents," Natsu cut in, "everyone gets that expression when we tell them we are orphans. It is okay though because we all have each other now."

Lucy looked into his face and she knew that the pain of loosing a parent never went away, but he did look like his new family made him happy. For some reason this thought made her happy.

"What is with the weird smile?"

"What are you talking about my smile is not weird."

"Well you have been staring at me for awhile."

"Oh, sorry." Lucy grasped her hands tightly around her mug and took a deep breath, "It's just I know how hard it is to lose a parent my mother passed away when I was ten also, but it seems like you are really happy now and that's good."

 

Natsu noticed how her sweet smile had a hint of sadness to it, and it made him want to erase the sadness so that in the future all of her smiles were happy. Which was a feeling he and never felt before and he found it odd because he barely new her.

"You miss your mother a lot don't you?" At his words Lucy looked surprised, which was about the tenth thing he had said during this conversation that made her look that way. "I miss my dad too, but it is hard to stay sad when I am surrounded by so many friends." Trying to pep her up Natsu asked, "What about you I am sure you have other family and some friends around?"

At his question her smile vanished completely and she quickly turned her head to look out the window. "Yes other family." She turned her head back to look at him, "But I just moved to Magnolia in the summer before classes started so I don't really know anyone that lives here, except for the people I work with." She smiled at him, but it was not as cheerful as it had been earlier. She glanced down at her phone, "Oh wow I need to get back to work." She stood and grabbed her coffee mug; "It was nice seeing you again Natsu."

"Yeah you too, I will see you again next week."

"Okay, see you then." With that she turned and walked back behind the counter and began to wash her mug out in a sink.

Natsu grabbed his coffee and walked out the door.


	5. The Invitation

It had been three weeks since Lucy had found out Natsu grew up at Fairy Tail, and he had stopped by the coffee shop at least twice a week sometimes more to sit and have a coffee with her. Today was Tuesday so she knew he would be coming in soon and just like magic she heard the door open and a very excited looking Natsu came running up to the counter.

"Lucy guess what I have awesome news!"

Lucy raised her hands up hoping it might calm him down, since he was being very loud in the little shop. "Ok Natsu let me get our coffees and then you can tell me about your awesome news." As she made their coffees she noticed Natsu watched her the whole time with a huge grin plastered across his face. She walked over and handed him his coffee, "So what do you want to tell me?"

"It's my friends birthday so we are having a party for him at my apartment and I thought you should come and meet everyone."

She opened her mouth to respond but closed it again because she was not exactly sure what to say. The thought of making new friends here made her excited, but she was a little worried about meeting them all at once at a party for a guy she did not even know. "I don't know Natsu, if it is your friends birthday then he might not want me there since he doesn't know me."

Natsu scoffed at her, "He won't care he is my friends boyfriend and she is throwing the party for him. It is really more of an excuse for us all to have a party. Besides I have already told them about you and they want to meet you."

"You told your friends about me? What kind of things did you tell them? They really want to meet me?" Lucy realized she was starting to get a little rambling, but she just could not believe he would talk to his friends about her.

"Yes, I told them you were my friend who worked at a coffee shop and they want to meet you, because they didn't think I could make other friends. Actually that was just Gray being a jerk."

She had zoned out after she heard him call her his friend, she was happy that he considered them friends. She considered him her friend also, the first friend she had made in a long time. She realized Natsu had stopped talking and was now looking at her expectantly.

"They really are nice people, if you are worried about that. Well except for Gray and Erza is really scary sometimes, but everyone else is normal well kinda…"

"Yes," she cut in, "I want to go."

"Cool, It is this Saturday I can pick you up and drive you over, if that is easier for you?"

"Yes that would be great, you can pick me up here. What time?"

"How about six-thirty."

"Ok I will be waiting outside. I better get back to work now, I will see you then."

"See ya Saturday." Lucy watched him walk out of the shop with that huge grin on his face.

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was Saturday at six-twenty and Lucy was sitting on a bench outside the shop, she was nervous but also excited. She assumed this is what it felt like to be going on a date, but this was not a date, this was her chance to make new friends. Oh course Lucy had friends before when she was in elementary school when her mother was still alive, but when she passed away her father had taken her out of school and had tutors begin home schooling her. That lasted until Lucy was finally able to convince her father to let her go to a prep school for high school, this school was full of the other sons and daughters of company presidents, politicians, and one kid was even the cousin of the king of a different country. Since these kids were being groomed to take over their parents work, they were not there to make friends just future business partners and allies. It was at that school that she realized that that was not the kind of life she wanted for herself.

A terrible noise pulled her out of her thoughts and she had a feeling that it was coming for her. She looked down the street and saw a rusty old yellow car driving towards the shop. When it pulled up in front of her she could see Natsu waving to her from the drivers seat. Lucy could not help the laugh that bubbled up.

"Hey are you laughing at the car?" Natsu called to her as he got out.

"No I was just thinking about how different my life is after only a year." She said this knowing he would have no idea what she was talking about.

Natsu did have a questioning look on his face but all he said was, "Lucy you're weird!" He then crossed the short distance over to her and asked, "So are you ready to go?"

She took a deep breath, "Yep, lets go."

As they drove Lucy noticed that Natsu was dressed nicer than normal, not that he was dressed up at least not to the standards she was raised with, but she had seen him wear pajama pants before. Tonight he was wearing dark jeans, a red polo shirt and the the black and white scarf he always wore; he did look very nice. She looked down at what she was wearing a blue tank, white skirt, her tall boots, and tonight since it was getting chilly she had a light jacket; which was a pretty typical outfit for her to wear when not at work. When she looked back out the window she noticed that they were on the other side of campus at an apartment complex that only housed students.

Natsu parked in front of one of the buildings and turned to look at her, "this is it," and he jumped out of the car.

Lucy got out and followed him to apartment number 777 and waited as he opened the door.

He opened the door so forcefully that it slammed into the wall and reverberated off it then yelled out, "We're here." A grand entrance was not something Lucy had wanted when meeting everyone, especially when it caused everyone in the room to stop and stare, however it did allow her the chance to look around at everyone too. She first noticed three people with white hair two girls and a guy standing and talking to another guy with dark hair and curiously enough no shirt. Then she saw a petite girl with blue hair sitting on a sofa with a book open in her hands and beside her sprawled sideways across a chair was a brown haired girl with what looked like a bottle of whiskey. Finally she noticed a guy standing by himself with blue hair, a facial marking, and a large hat that read Birthday Boy strapped to his head.

When she turned her head back she saw the girl with the long white hair had walked over to Natsu and her. "So Natsu who is your friend?" As she asked this she turned and smiled very sweetly at Lucy and Lucy noticed she must have been one of the most beautiful women she had ever seen.

"What are you talking about Mira? I told everyone that I was bringing a friend." Natsu answered her.

The other white haired girl walked over to them, "Umm Natsu you said you were bringing someone named Luigi, we all assumed it was a guy."

"And that definitely is not a guy." The guy with the dark hair and no shirt called out. Lucy was pretty sure he was making a reference to her assets.

"Wait, you told them my name was Luigi?" Lucy turned and questioned Natsu

He tilted his head and scratched the back of his neck, "I am pretty sure I said Lucy, anyways it doesn't matter," he put his hand on top of Lucy's head and announced, "Everyone this is Lucy."

Everyone just stared; some at Natsu like they could not believe he was really that much of an idiot, and others at Lucy like they were trying to recall what he had said about her. Finally the brown haired girl called out "Well you being a girl makes a lot more sense now."

With that everyone let out a laugh then came over to introduce themselves to Lucy. She learned that the three with white hair were the Strauss siblings Mirajane, Elfman, and Lisanna. The girl with brown hair was Cana she was already a junior at MSU. The blue haired girl was Levy she lived here with Natsu and Gray who was the shirtless guy. Erza also lived in the apartment but she had to run out and buy some last minute stuff for the birthday party, which was for Jellal who of course was in the hat.

After introductions everyone began to talk about classes or crazy things that had happened at Fairy Tail, Lucy learned that Natsu had nearly blown his and Grays bedroom up and had caught the kitchen on fire three times. While Gray was telling her how he managed to freeze an entire fountain the front door suddenly slammed open and a girl with beautiful red hair and about twenty bags full of stuff walked in. She placed the bags down on the table and barked out and order for Gray and Natsu to put them away, which they immediately complied with an 'Aye Sir'. Before Lucy had time to even think about how weird that was the woman turned and noticed her for the first time. She raised her hand and pointed at her and yelled out, "You," then quickly began making her way toward Lucy.

Lucy's first reaction was to run but it must have been the fear of how angry she looked that kept her rooted to the spot. When she was right in front of Lucy she stopped and repeated herself, "You." Lucy just stared wide-eyed. "You must be the one that gave Natsu those espressos, he came back here jumping off the walls, and he nearly burned down the apartment one day. I forbid you to ever give him that drink again."

Lucy just nodded her head, and had the over-whelming urge to utter 'Aye-Sir' but managed to keep it contained.

The women then smiled at her and raised her hand in greeting, "Oh by the way I am Erza Scarlett it is nice to finally meet you Luigi."

"It is nice to meet you too Erza but my name is actually Lucy, Natsu told everyone the wrong name."

Erza turned and shot a death look at the kitchen, "I will talk to him about that later."

By the small 'eep' Lucy heard coming from the kitchen she was pretty sure talking was going to involve Erza's fist. "Oh you don't need to do that, it was just a mistake", Lucy said hoping to save Natsu from her wrath.

"If you are sure, then I can let it slide this time." With that Erza turned, grabbed a bag off the table and brought it over to where he boyfriend was standing.

As the night went on Lucy got the chance to talk to everyone and she found that she had a lot in common with Levy, Cana was a lot of fun, Gray was only a jerk to Natsu, Erza actually seemed pretty nice but she could turn scary fast, the Strauss sisters were super sweet, their brother was also sweet but referred to everything as manly, and Jellal well he did not really say much to anyone but Erza.

When the party was over Natsu walked Lucy out to the car, "So where do I need to drop you off at?"

Not wanting to trouble him with having to drive her all the way to her apartment she replied, "The coffee shop will be fine."

"Oh do you live around there?"

"Not really but I can walk home."

Natsu turned and looked at her, "It is pretty late, I can drive you home, I don't mind."

"Are you sure? It is not that close, I usually have to take a bus to get there."

"You usually take a bus home, but you want to walk tonight." Natsu was looking at her like she was crazy. "I am driving you home, just tell me where to go."

She finally agreed and as they drove they chatted about the party and all of Lucy's first impressions of everyone. When they reached her apartment they both got out and he walked with her up to her door. After Lucy unlocked her door she turned around to face Natsu. "Thank you for inviting me I really did have a lot of fun."

"Yeah of course, I could tell everyone really like you, especially Levy."

"Yeah I have so much in common with her we even found out we have a class together." All the emotions she had felt from getting to know everyone tonight came swelling up inside her, and she knew that if it wasn't for meeting Natsu none of that would have happened. Without thinking Lucy stepped forward and wrapped her arms around him and let out a whispered, "Thank you."

Natsu seemed to be stunned for a moment before he wrapped his arms around her and returned the hug.

Lucy, realizing what she had just done, immediately let go and took a step back to her door. "Yeah, thanks for driving me home, I did have a lot of fun. Well see you later, bye." With that she bolted inside her house and shut the door. Once inside she looked out her peephole to see a very confused looking Natsu staring at her door.

"Ok, see you later weirdo." He then let out a laugh and walked back to his car.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lover of Fairy Tails -  
> I changed their ages around to fit the story better. I made Cana older so that it would be easier to write in her drinking habit, and I made Erza younger.
> 
> Mira and Cana are Juniors  
> Elfman is a Sophomore  
> Everyone else is a Freshman, except Jellal I have not decided that yet.


	6. Different

It was Tuesday and Lucy was back at work, she had spent the rest of her weekend studying, doing homework, binge watching Netflix, and getting embarrassed all over again when she thought about her attack hug on Natsu. That was days ago now and she had finally managed to rationalize it to herself as friends hug all the time and he himself said they were friends so no big deal. She was just hoping it was still the case when she saw him next, which should be sometime soon. Another thing she had done that weekend was make plans to go over to their apartment to study with Levy.

The little bell chimed and Lucy looked up at the door and saw Natsu walk in followed by Gray. When they approached the counter she greeted them, "Hi Natsu, Hello Gray, it is nice to see you both."

Natsu gave her his signature grin and Gray returned her greeting, "Hello Lucy it is nice to see you too. I ran into this idiot on his way over to the shop and since the class I usually have now got cancelled I decided to come and try it out. I mean the coffee here must be amazing since Natsu comes here like two or three times a week.

Gray was smirking at Natsu who had turned his head to look at the menu board, but Lucy could still see the faint blush that colored his cheeks. "Um yeah the coffee is really good." After regaining his composure and turned his head back to look at Lucy, "I think I will have an espresso today."

Lucy's mouth dropped open, she could not believe him, "Are you kidding me Natsu? You were there when Erza forbid me from ever serving you an espresso, I am not trying to get on her bad side. How about a hot tea instead, maybe it will have a calming effect."

Gray let out a loud laugh at Natsu's indignant expression; suddenly Lucy heard something smash behind her. She turned to see her coworker staring toward Natsu and Gray. "Hey Juvia are you ok?" Lucy walked over and bent down to help pick up the broken coffee mug Juvia had dropped.

The movement must have snapped her out of it, because her face suddenly flamed red and she quickly bent down to pick up the pieces. "Juvia is so sorry, don't worry about it."

Lucy stood and threw her pieces in the trash, "Are you sure you got it Juvia."

"Yes, Juvia knows that it is time for your break now."

"Ok Juvia, be careful." Lucy then walked back over to the counter, took Gray's order, and began to make all their drinks.

 

Since the table he usually sat out only had two chairs Natsu picked out a booth and him and Gray sat on opposite sides. He noticed Lucy walking over with their drinks; she placed them down on the table, and took a seat beside him. He was not sure why but he felt like he had just won a small victory over Gray.

When he looked across to him he noticed he had a quizzical look on his face, "Is this like a maid-café where the waitresses get really friendly with the customers?" Gray asked Lucy.

"No, it is not, I am just on break," she replied.

"Really, you spend your break talking to flame brain?"

"What the hell Gray? Why would she not want to talk to me, I am a cool guy."

Gray let out a laugh, "Oh yeah Natsu you are such a 'cool guy'," he had even added in the finger quotations. "You are more of a hot head."

Right when Natsu was about to rip into Gray about all the things he was, he heard Lucy take a sharp intake of breath. He turned his head to look at her. "Sorry, that reminded me of something I wanted to ask you." A shy smile played across her face, "Are you really like a pyro?"

Natsu opened his mouth and blinked at her, why would she think he was a pyro. "I was only wondering because on Saturday I heard about how you caused an explosion in your room, how you caught the kitchen at Fairy Tail on fire three times, and Erza mentioned you nearly burned down the apartment."

Natsu was still just staring at her, who would have told her all that. Then he thought back to Saturday and remembered Lisanna and Levy talking to Lucy and looking very suspicious. He was going to get them back for this, because now Lucy thought he was a crazy pyro-maniac. "Those were accidents, I wasn't trying to catch things on fire." He heard a muffled laugh from across the table and saw that Gray was trying hard to stifle his laughter. He looked back at Lucy who looked like she was waiting for him to explain more. He let out a huff hoping he could explain his way out of it, before her impression stuck. "The explosion happened when I was probably eleven. I was trying to make fireworks for new years and I don't know something went wrong with the mixture and one exploded, but it caught another box on fire and it was full of ones I had already made and it also exploded."

"His eyebrows and a bunch of his hair got burnt off. It was so worth some of my clothes getting burned." Gray added.

"Like you ever wear clothes anyways." Natsu spat out at Gray, "Anyways the kitchen ones really were not that bad I was only trying to cook something. The first time I caught a pot holder on fire, the second time it was a towel, and the third time it was just the stove."

"Wait, how do you catch the whole stove on fire?" Lucy asked him with a very confused look.

"He had started a grease fire in a pan and got a bucket of water to put it out with." Gray answered for him

Lucy eyes widened in shock, "Really you poured water on it?" He noticed how she tried to hide her smile

"Nobody had ever told me that it would react that way." Natsu crossed his arms and pouted it seemed that they were ganging up on him.

"It caused the automatic sprinklers to come on. He came out with his shirt burned off and drenched." Gray took a deep breath, "That was a good day."

"I could have died you jerk."

Lucy and Gray both ignored his comment, "So what happened at the apartment?" She asked him with a smile she was barely containing.

This was the one he really did not want to explain to her, "I don't want to talk about it, you are just making fun of me."

"I will tell you what happened," Gray happily interjected, "he was pretending to be a ninja and somehow knocked over a candle and it caught a blanket on fire."

"Hey Levy should not have left a candle burning when she went to class." Natsu added trying to save some of his dignity but neither of them were paying any attention to him now.

He noticed Lucy mouth was quivering now with the strain of controlling her laughter. "Really a ninja?" she managed to choke out.

Gray proceeded to clasp his hands on top of each other and said, "Nin-Nin." Which was Lucy's breaking point she released a loud laugh that drew the attention of many of the customers and not even a second later Gray joined her.

Natsu was sitting there staring at his jerk of a friend and his; well he was not really sure what Lucy was, she was his friend but he also felt she was different than his other friends. It must be because she was a new friend; yeah new friend rolling with laughter at his expense. Half of the shop was now glancing over at them, "I am glad you two are having fun at my expense."

"I'm sorry Natsu, its just it seems like it would be hard to accidentally catch that much stuff on fire." Lucy said once she had finally caught her breath.

"Well now that you know all the stories can we talk about something else?" Natsu huffed out.

"Sure Natsu. Actually I want something sweet to go with my coffee what to do you recommend Lucy?" Gray asked.

"The sugar cookies are homemade by the shops owner and really amazing." Lucy replied

"Ok, cool, I will try one." Gray stood and walked over to the counter where Juvia was taking orders.

Natsu noticed how Lucy's eyes had followed Gray up to the counter and he did not like it, "Why are you staring at him?"

She turned to face him and whispered, "I think Juvia likes him."

Her answer made him feel relieved, for some reason, but he was unsure why she thought that, "How could she like him they just meet?"

She turned back to watch Gray and Juvia, "You know attraction, and I think Gray feels the same way."

Now he was very confused because Gray didn't show a lot of emotion. "Why would you think that?"

"Well he was glancing over at the counter a lot and then he found an excuse to go and talk to her"

"What? You mean the cookie, I think he was just hungry."

Lucy snapped her head towards him, "Really Natsu? Haven't you ever found someone attractive so you find someway to talk to them?"

Natsu looked at her with a confused expression, "No I haven't."

Lucy's eye widened then she turned to face forward and her smile fell, "Oh". She quietly sat and drank her coffee until she noticed Gray coming back then quickly told Natsu not mention what she had said.

When Gray sat back down Lucy and him started talking about their classes, but Natsu just sat there trying to notice whatever it was the Lucy saw. Before he could determine anything Juvia brought Gray's cookie over.

Gray gave her a warm smile, "Thank you Juvia."

Juvia beamed at him, "You're welcome." She then turned to Lucy, "Juvia knows you are still on break, but something happened with Yukino's sister and she has to go."

"That's ok, I was just about done anyways." Lucy stood then turned to face the table, "Bye guys. Oh by the way I am coming over to your apartment sometime tomorrow to study with Levy, So I might see you then," then she turned and walked back to the counter with Juvia.

Natsu had waved his hand at her but had not really listened to what she said, because he had noticed how Gray truly smiled at Juvia.

"Hey you should not be thinking that hard, you are going to hurt yourself," Gray said with a smirk.

Natsu glared up at him, "I hope you choke on your cookie."

"Whatever, so what are you using that flame brain of yours so hard for?"

Natsu had caught the insult but decided to ignore. "It's nothin, just something Lucy said about you and Juvia being attracted to each other." He remembered to late that she had told him not to mention it, oops.

Gray looked surprised, "I am not sure about all that, but she is cute so I flirted a little and she gave me her number". He then reached under his cookie plate and pulled out a piece of paper.

"So she was right you used the cookie as an excuse to go and talk to her."

"Yeah. Don't you do the same thing, you come in here to get coffee multiple times a week so that you have an excuse to spend time with Lucy?"

Natsu was not entirely sure why he had come back in the beginning, other than she had made him laugh, but now she was his friend. So that was how he answered, "She is my friend."

Gray scratched his head, "I know she is your friend now, but isn't it a different kind of friendship than the one you have with, lets say, Lisanna and Erza?"

This caused Natsu to pause because that was exactly what he had thought earlier, what he felt for Lucy was different.

"If you really are just friends then cool, I just thought you liked her. If you are not sure, you need to decide fast because she is not going to stay single forever. I mean look at her."

Natsu did as he was told and looked up at the counter to where Lucy was taking the order of a guy who even he could tell looked like a model. As he watched them he noticed that the guy was talking to her a lot and whatever he was saying was making her laugh. The thought of that guy making Lucy laugh made Natsu's chest tighten. Not wanting to watch that anymore Natsu noticed that Gray had finished his coffee and cookie, so he grabbed his backpack and said, " lets go."

Gray and Natsu stood and they walked over to the door, Natsu turned for one last look over to the counter and saw Gray winking at Juvia. Averting his eyes from that he noticed Lucy who was leaning around the guy to wave goodbye to Natsu. Seeing her ignore whatever that guy was telling her to wave goodbye to him made the tightness in his chest lift.

They walked out the door and began walking back across campus to their apartment, both happy they stopped in for coffee that day.


	7. Study Session

"All this stuff is never going to fit," Lucy said out loud to herself. At the moment she was trying to cram all of her study materials into her backpack for her study session with Levy. Once they had found out they were in the same Brit. Lit. class they began sitting together and decided to study for their upcoming test together. After finally forcing the zipper closed she headed out the door to catch a bus to Levy's apartment.

After nearly falling off the bus because her backpack was so heavy she easily found the apartment again and knocked on the door. The door was flung open to reveal Levy, "Lu you made it. Come on in."

"Thanks Levy," Lucy walked in and joyfully dropped her backpack down to the ground with a thud, and began to roll and stretch her arms.

"Oh my goodness, what all do you have in this thing?" Levy questioned her as she tugged on the backpack.

"I wanted to be prepared so I brought some extra books, but we probably won't need them."

Levy unzipped the backpack and began to look through the books, "We are defiantly going to have enough material."

Lucy noticed that the apartment was very quiet, to quiet for a place that Natsu and Gray lived together. "Is nobody else here?"

Levy looked up at her, "No, I choose this time because everyone else has classes now."

Lucy proceeded to take out her study materials and stack up the extra books, "Well are you ready to start?"

"Yep, lets get to it." Levy answered excitedly.

After two hours Lucy was mentally exhausted she had already written out three of her essay questions and her brain could not handle anymore. "Hey Levy lets take a break." When she didn't get a response she looked over at her friend who hadn't even taken her eyes off the page of her book. "Levy," Lucy tried again but still no reaction. Lucy reached over a finger and tapped the book.

Levy's head snapped up, "Oh sorry Lu how long have you been trying to get my attention?"

"Not that long. How do you do that though?" Lucy questioned her. She had always had a hard time blocking out what was happening around her.

"I guess it was growing up in Fairy Tail. It was never quiet, so if I wanted to read I had to block out everything else."

Lucy thought about how loud everyone had been at the party of Saturday, and that was just a small portion of everyone that had grown up at Fairy Tail. "I guess you would have too." Lucy reached up and rubbed her head, "My brain hurts, do you want to take a break?"

"Yeah, I can make us some tea." Levy walked to the kitchen and put the kettle on. "So Lu you want to be a writer, right?"

"Yep, what about you Levy?"

"I want to get into publishing or editing since I love reading books, and I want to help writers get their works into the world."

"Wow that sounds really amazing Levy."

"Yeah maybe someday I can work on publishing your books, but first you have to let me read one."

"I haven't written any yet but I promise you can be the first to read one, you just have to promise to be honest with me about it."

"Of course I will, but I am sure it will be great." The kettle began to whistle so Levy grabbed some cups and tea bags and carried it all over to the table. "So what genre do you want to write?"

Lucy considered her question, "I am not really sure yet. I know it won't be murder mystery or science fiction. I kinda like fantasy and real world fiction though."

Levy propped her elbows on the table, rested her head in her hands, and batted her eyelashes at Lucy. "Will they be love stories?"

Lucy laughed at the girls antics, "Maybe, although truthfully I don't have a lot of experience with love."

"Well you are getting some now," Levy said with a wink.

Her statement puzzled Lucy, "Why would you think that?"

"Aren't you kinda dating Natsu?"

Lucy felt her eyes bulge, "What! No, why would you think that? We are just friends."

Levy gave her a curious look, "Really, all the girls thought you two were dating. You do spend a lot of time together."

"We do but only as friends." In a whispered tone Lucy added, "Besides I know he only sees me as a friend."

"Oh." It seemed to Levy that Lucy was not completely sure about her own feelings towards the subject, but she didn't want to push it anymore with her. "Well you could always get inspiration from my boyfriend and me."

"Levy you have a boyfriend. What is he like?" Lucy asked her with an eager smile.

"He is like the exact opposite of me, but you can see for yourself this weekend."

"I can?" Lucy asked with a tilt of her head.

"Yeah didn't Natsu tell you? We are all going bowling and want you to go with us."

"He hasn't told me, but that sounds like a lot of fun. I would love to go."

"Awesome, we're going Friday night." After the tea had enough time to steep Levy poured them both a cup.

Lucy took her cup and huffed, "Well I guess we better get back to studying."

"Yeah I guess we should." They both picked up their books and started to read again.

After Lucy had finished two more essay questions and three cups of tea she really needed to use the bathroom. Knowing how to get her friends attention now she tapped on her book, "Hey Levy can I use your bathroom?"

"Yeah, mine and Erza's is at the end of this hall," she pointed to the hallway behind them. "The boys is down that hallway at the end," she pointed with her other had to the hallway directly ahead of them.

"Thanks," Lucy got up and walked down the hall to the girl's bathroom. When she was coming out she heard the sound of a door open and shut. When she reached the living room again Levy was in the exact same spot. "Did someone come back?"

"Yeah, Natsu just walked in but he went strait to the shower"

Lucy heard the shower come on and could not stop the thought of Natsu being naked from popping into her head. Thankful that Levy never looked up from her book to see her blush, she sat down and began to study.

About ten minutes later she heard the water go off, some loud banging, then the door being opened. "Hey Levy can I borrow one of your towels, all we have is this little hand one." As Natsu reached the end of his sentence he also reached the end of the hallway. He was standing in the entryway directly in front of them with nothing but a small hand towel stretched across his hips to cover himself.

There was a small part of Lucy's brain that knew she should look away, but the majority of it had shut down at the sight of his body. While she did try to avoid the part covered by the towel, what was right above it had her transfixed. He had toned six-pack abs and very defined pelvic muscles that pulled her low, to low she quickly flicked her vision up and it landed on his broad chest and biceps. Slight movement caught her attention and she noticed he had begun to step backwards, she watched as his calf muscles flexed with the motion. "Never mind, this will be fine," Natsu said before he disappeared down the hall.

The sound of his voice snapped her out of her trance and the part of her brain that knew she should not be staring took control. She felt her face flame red; she could not believe she had just openly ogled her friend. By the look on his face when he retreated down the hall he had noticed her doing it too. She pushed her head into her hands in embarrassment. The sound of a chuckle brought her out of her thoughts. She had forgot Levy had been sitting beside her to witness the whole thing. She looked up at her and she had a huge grin plastered across her face.

"What's wrong Lu, you look like a tomato?" Levy asked her mockingly.

All Lucy could do was drop her head back into her hands.

"You know next time you should just take a picture."

Lucy gave a fake sob, "Was I really that obvious?"

"Yeah you were staring pretty hard."

"Crap, he is going to think I am really weird now."

Levy reached out and placed a hand on Lucy's shoulder, "Natsu will be fine he was probably only embarrassed because no one has ever looked at him that intently. I mean we all grew up together so we are used to seeing each other half naked."

"I don't know if I could ever get used to that." Hoping to avoid further embarrassment Lucy shoved her face in a book and began reading.

After a few minutes Lucy dropped the book down on the table, "I don't think I can study anymore today." She could not get the image out of her head; it was probably burned in there permanently. She wasn't sure if she could ever look at him the same again. "Levy, I think I am going to go home."

Levy let out a short laugh, "That cool Lu, besides I think we covered everything we could today anyways."

Lucy gathered her things and walked to the door, "Bye Levy I will see you in class." She glanced back to the hallway, "If he comes back out, can you tell him I said bye."

"Sure Lu, don't forget about bowling on Friday," Levy added

"I won't I am looking forward to it." Lucy said with a bright smile and walked out the door.


	8. Bowling

Natsu walked into the coffee shop and saw Lucy behind the counter finishing taking the order of a customer. When he reached the counter she was still looking down at the cup she was marking.

"Hello, welcome to…." When she finally looked up at his face her mouth quickly shut and her face turned a brilliant shade of red. "N-Natsu!"

Natsu grinned at her and asked, "What kind of greeting is that Lucy?" Of course he knew why she was flustered. Yesterday after he had dried off and put on clothes he had come out into the living room to see Levy sitting alone. She told him that Lucy wasn't capable of studying anymore so she went home. The whole incident had not really bothered him; he was just surprised Lucy had gazed so long. The fact that it embarrassed her still meant he could tease her mercilessly about it.

"Hello Natsu," Lucy huffed out and crossed her arms over her chest, "So what can I get you today?"

Natsu ordered and went to wait at their table for her. After a few minutes Lucy made her way over to the table her face still a shade of pink and it seemed she was trying to avoid looking at him. Natsu laughed as he took his coffee.

Lucy jerked her head to look at him, "What are you laughing at?"

"You," was all Natsu managed to get out.

"Wha-why are you laughing at me?"

"Because you are sooo embarrassed about yesterday." Natsu stopped laughing abruptly. He leaned across the table towards Lucy as far as he could and in a low voice said, "Well if it makes you feel more comfortable I could always take off my shirt."

Lucy felt her face flame red again, she shoved her hands into his face trying to get him back on his side of the table. "Stupid Natsu, why are you even here? You don't usually come in today."

Natsu leaned back into his chair with a smirk on his face, "I made a special trip to see Juvia."

Lucy was taken aback, all earlier humiliation was gone with his statement, "Juvia?" she asked.

"Yeah so we need one more person to make our teams complete for bowling tomorrow, and Gray thought Juvia would like to come."

"Then why didn't Gray ask her?"

Natsu shrugged, "I'm not sure, he said something about it being to early."

Of course Lucy thought, why couldn't guys just be honest? She looked over at Natsu, well not all guys he was pretty straightforward.

"Anyways I am going to have to go, I am meeting Elfman at the gym," as he spoke Natsu stood and grabbed his coffee.

"Wait, what about Juvia?"

"Gray thought you should invite her."

"What, but…."

"Look Lucy," Natsu cut in. "I have to go to the gym now or else I won't have those muscle you seem to like so much," with that he turned and ran towards the door.

Lucy really wanted to throw her coffee mug at him, but she didn't want to get fired so she refrained. She watched as he ran out the door and down the sidewalk. Lucy took a deep breath and went to talk to Juvia.

Juvia had agreed and they all had decided to meet outside the coffee shop at 5:45. At 5:30 Lucy got off the bus and walked over to the shop. She saw that Juvia was already waiting, "Hey Juvia."

Juvia turned and waved from the bench she was sitting on, "Hello Lucy."

Lucy took a seat beside her, "Have you been here long?"

"No Juvia just got here also."

Lucy wanted to talk to Juvia, but she was unsure what to talk about. Right when she was going to ask her about her classes Juvia blurted out, "Juvia is a little nervous."

"Why is that?" Lucy asked

"Well you mentioned that there is a lot of people going to be there and you guys are already friends…" Juvia drifted off.

"I understand what you mean, but I only meet most of them last weekend. They are all very nice though, I am sure you will have fun tonight." Lucy tried to assure her.

Juvia gave her a hopeful smile. Lucy then heard a familiar screeching noise, she turned her head and saw Natsu's car turning the corner.

"Well they are here." Lucy stood and walked to the curb.

When the car pulled up the first thing Lucy noticed was that Natsu and Gray were fighting, the second thing she noticed was that Gray did not have a shirt on. Lucy waited for a moment but it didn't seem like they were going to stop anytime soon she reached out and yanked the door open, "What are you two doing?"

They both stopped and looked over at her, it seemed like they hadn't even noticed the girls were standing outside the car waiting. "Oh, Hey." Natsu said and got out of the car.

Gray stepped out of the car also, "Hello Lucy, Hey Juvia."

Before Juvia could say anything Lucy asked, "Why were you two fighting, and Gray where is your shirt?"

Gray looked down, cussed, ran back to the car and pulled out his shirt. "This idiot pulled me out of the apartment before I was ready."

"You were taking to long, we were going to be late," Natsu said as he sent him a death glare.

After Gray got his shirt on he examined it, "You wrinkled my shirt asshole!"

"Nobody cares about your stupid shirt!" Natsu yelled at him.

"Anyways," Lucy said in a raised voice hoping to avoid another fight, "We should probably get going."

They agreed and the girls climbed into the back seat.

Once they arrived at the bowling alley Lucy recognized their large group of friends, all except one tall guy with long black hair and quite a few facial piercings standing with Levy.

Lucy heard a sharp intake of breath and turned to see Juvia run forward, wrap her arms around the guy, and yell out, "Gajeel!"

Everyone turned to see what the commotion was all about. The man, who Lucy had deduced was Levy's boyfriend and named Gajeel, had a stunned expression on his face, "Juvia?"

Juvia stepped away from him, "It has been so long."

Levy stepped closer to him, "Gajeel who is your friend?"

Juvia looked around noticed everyone staring at them and blushed, "Sorry Juvia is just very excited because she didn't expect to see Gajeel."

"Juvia and I were friends at my old school before I moved to Magnolia," Gajeel answered Levy's question.

"Best friends since elementary school," Juvia clarified.

"Wait," Levy said, "I thought your best friend was named Rainy."

Juvia puffed out her cheeks at Gajeel, "Well I call her that because it would always start raining when she got upset." He then let out a very distinct laugh, "Gee-Hee."

After Juvia was introduced to everyone else Mira stepped forward with a bundle of popsicle sticks. "Ok we are going to divide into three randomly selected teams, since I am afraid trying to choose teams would end in a giant fight. So everyone come and grab a stick," Mira held them out to everyone.

Lucy reached forward and grabbed a stick when she turned it over she saw it had a red circle painted on it. She looked around and noticed Natsu also had a red circle, she held up her stick so he could see and he gave her a thumbs up.

After everyone had drawn Lucy and Natsu had ended up with Erza and Gray on their team. "Awesome, so instead of the whole group fighting only my team will try to kill each other," Lucy groaned.

The others teams comprised of Levy, Gajeel, Juvia, and Lisanna on one and Cana, Mira, Elfman, and Jellal on the other. Lucy looked over and saw Natsu sitting at their scoring computer typing something in with an evil smirk. "Kyah-kya," he let out a laugh and looked up at the screen.

TEAM NATSU was written across the top of it.

"Oh hell no, that is not our team name!" Gray yelled out.

"Once you type it in you can't change it," Natsu said with a satisfied grin.

"Fine then," Gray walked over and pushed Natsu out of the chair then began to quickly type. "There," he said as he looked up at the screen.

Flame Breath had been typed into the first name slot.

"What the hell Gray," Natsu said as he tackled him down to the ground then jumped back up to the computer and started typing.

When he was done Ice Princess was typed in the second name slot.

Right when Gray was about to jump on top of Natsu Erza stepped in between them grabbed their shirts and threw them both to the ground. "You will stop this now you are making a scene!" She then bent down and began typing.

Titania popped up into the third name slot.

She then turned to Lucy, "So what would you like your name to be?"

Lucy had watched all of with only mild shock, mostly because the other teams had paid no attention to it.

"Lucy will be fine," she finally responded to Erza.

Erza turned to type in her name, but Natsu had already scrambled across the floor and typed in one.

Luigi popped up in the final spot. Natsu turned around and grinned at her. Gray called him an idiot then walked over to sit in a chair that was behind the one Juvia was in. Erza yelled, "Lets bowl."

After Flame Breath, Ice Princess, and Titania had gone it was now Luigi's turn. This would have been great if Lucy had ever been bowling before, but that was something you did with a normal family and actual friends in school. She had watched everyone else and it looked simple enough, so she was pretty sure she could fake it. She grabbed a ball walked up to the line and threw it. It began to roll very, very slowly down the lane. She watched it for what felt like a very long time make its way down. When she heard footsteps approaching she turned her head and saw Natsu standing beside her.

"I think you are going to have to throw it a little harder next time, I don't even think it is going to reach the pins."

Lucy turned her head back the ball was about half way down and it looked like it was about to stop altogether. Natsu turned and grabbed another ball and threw it down the lane. "Hey your not supposed to do that!" Lucy exclaimed

"Yours was stuck, had to move it somehow." She turned back and saw that his ball had hit hers and they both went into the gutter. It was time for her second throw so she grabbed a ball and threw again. This time she gave way to much effort, the ball flew through the air before it crashed down and shot off into the gutter.

"Wow that was impressive, but you are supposed to roll it down not throw it." Natsu turned and gave her playful grin, "Haven't you done this before?"

Lucy looked up at him, "No, actually I haven't."

Natsu's eyes widened "What? You have never been bowling before!?" he shouted.

Lucy reached out and covered his mouth and looked around to see if anybody else had heard, but no one had seemed to hear over all the other noise. Lucy removed her hand and Natsu gave her and annoyed look, "What was that for?"

"I don't want everyone to know."

"Why not?"

"Because bowling is something people have normally done."

"Well that is true, but you're a weirdo."

Lucy slapped his arm, "Shut up, Natsu."

"Kyah-kya," he walked over and grabbed a ball. "Here I will teach you how."

"Really, thank you!"

"Ok, first you hold the ball like this, then you walk forward and swing your arm back then forward then before it gets to high you release it. Or else you will throw it like you did, oh and you also have to twist your body for spin." Natsu then proceeded to throw the ball down the alley and knock out most of the pins.

Lucy was not sure if his explanation was helpful or not, but she was happy he was trying to help her.

"Ok now I am going to try to knock those last three pins down, you have to aim and put a lot of spin on the ball." Natsu threw the ball again and to Lucy it looked exactly the same but this time it went strait to the remaining pins and knocked them down. Natsu threw his hands in the air, "See just like that!"

As they walked back to their chairs Natsu asked her, "Which ball are you using?"

"The one Erza is using."

"You can't use that one she uses the heaviest ball here." Natsu walked forward and grabbed her hand, "Come on we will go find you a better one."

As Natsu dragged Lucy to where the balls were kept she couldn't help but think that she liked the way his hand felt holding hers. When they reached the balls he released her hand and she instantly missed his warmth, "Ok start picking them up and see which one feels the best, start with the lighter ones."

Lucy noticed that the balls had numbers etched into them so she started with the smallest number and tested the weights. After picking out a ball they went back to their lane and it was her turn to bowl. She walked up to the line with her ball and tried to do exactly as Natsu did. The ball rolled much smoother down the lane, but still curved off to the side and went in the gutter. The next time she tried that spinning stuff he had talked about and her ball rolled down and knocked out two pins. "I did it!," she yelled in excitement and turned and high fived Natsu.

"Good job, maybe by the end of the night you will make a strike."

By the end of the night Lucy had made quite a few strikes and she was very proud of herself. They had played three games and Mira had made them pick different teams every time. Lucy had a lot of fun getting to know everybody else better, and she was also happy because it looked like Juvia had made some new friends.

She said goodbye to the others and walked with Gray, Juvia, and Natsu out to his car. When she was about to climb into the backseat Gray reached out and stopped her, "I will sit in the back with Juvia you can sit in the front," and then he climbed in. Gray and Juvia sat very closely in the back and talked so quietly to each other Lucy could not hear them over the radio.

Natsu turned to look at her, "Do you want me to drive you back home?"

"No, it is not as late so the buses are still running. Thank you for offering though." Lucy smiled at him.

When they reached the bus stop everyone got out of the car, "Thanks for driving us I had a lot of fun." Lucy said

"Yes, thanks, Juvia had a lot of fun also."

"Your welcome," Natsu said

"Yeah, hopefully we can get together again soon," Gray said but was looking only at Juvia.

"Bye," they called then walked back to the car and got in.

After they had driven away Lucy turned to Juvia, "So did you have fun?"

"Yeah everyone was really nice just like you said and it was a nice surprise to see Gajeel again. He seems to really like his girlfriend, Juvia can tell they are a good match."

"Really," Lucy asked, he had seemed gruff.

"Yeah, Gajeel might act like a grizzly, but he is really just a big teddy bear."

Lucy's bus arrived then, "Well I am glad you came out with us, I will see you at work tomorrow, bye Juvia."

"Juvia is too, see you tomorrow, bye." Juvia waved goodbye as the bus doors closed.


	9. Girl's Night

It was Wednesday at five and Lucy was walking to a nail salon to meet the girls. Levy had called her the day before and informed her that Erza decided all the girls should spend some quality time together, and Lucy had happily agreed to go. When she reached the salon she opened the doors to find everyone was already here including Juvia, "Hi everyone," Lucy greeted her group of friends.

They all waved and greeted her back, Levy slapped the leather recliner beside, "Here Lu, come sit."

Lucy went and took the chair beside Levy and Juvia sat in the chair on her other side. "Juvia is happy you all invited her," she said with a shy smile.

"Of course Juvia, we all had a lot of fun with you on Friday," Levy said to her with a bright smile. "Gajeel was really happy to see you again."

"Juvia was too, it has been three years since I last saw him. We have talked so little since then I didn't even know we were going to the same college," Juvia said sorrowfully.

"Well now you can be friends again," Levy said trying to make her feel better.

Juvia perked up, "Yes we can."

"So Levy how did you and Gajeel meet?" Lucy asked

"Gajeel moved to Magnolia at the beginning of our sophomore year in high school and for the most part he kept to himself," Levy began. Lucy noticed Juvia nodding her head in agreement.

"I did not meet him until halfway through the year. I was standing on a ladder to reach a high shelf so that I could re-shelve some books when some stupid kid bumped it. It began to wobble and I couldn't stop it, so I fell..."

"Oh wait let me guess," Lucy cut in. "When you fell he caught you in his big strong arms, then you looked into each others eyes and it was love at first site."

Levy was scowling, "No, I fell on my butt as he watched the whole thing laughing."

Lucy's eyes widened in surprise, "And you are dating this guy now?"

Levy nodded and continued her story, "After that I hit him in the head with my book bag for being a jerk, and he left the library still laughing. In the following weeks I noticed him hanging out in the library a lot, so we started talking and hanging out." Levy smiled at Lucy, "now we have been dating for a little over two years."

"Wow Levy what a romantic story," Lucy said sarcastically.

Levy playfully slapped her arm, "Don't be fooled by the romance novels you read Lu, real people fall in love in much different ways."

"But Juvia fell in love at first sight," Juvia interjected.

Levy frowned, "You might be, but you are going to have a hard time getting Gray."

"But Juvia and Gray have their first date this Saturday," she said proudly.

"Congrats Juvia," Lucy said.

"It doesn't surprise me that he would date you. I am just saying in the future you are going to have a hard time getting him to admit he likes you, he can be pretty cold." Levy clarified.

"Juvia isn't worried, she is not going to let Gray go. One day we are going to have thirty babies," she said excitedly.

Lucy's mouth fell open, "That seems a little excessive Juvia," but the other girl wasn't listening, she seemed to be lost in a daydream.

The girls continued to chat while they received their manicures and pedicures.

Once their fingernails and toenails had all dried they walked down the street to the restaurant Cana had picked out. Which turned out to be a little cantina.

"What made you pick this place Cana?" Lisanna asked.

"Happy Hour all day baby," Cana replied

Mira giggled, "Of course."

Once seated inside Cana ordered a margarita, with an extra shot of tequila.

"Erza, what made you decide to invite us all out tonight?" Lucy asked.

"I thought it would be a good way to get to know you and Juvia better, without the boys here being too loud and getting into fights," Erza explained.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"So Lucy, Natsu told us you want to be a writer, but he didn't say what kind. Do you want to be a novelist, a journalist, or something else?" Mira asked her.

"A novelist," Lucy answered. Lucy remembered a conversation she had with him in which he told her he had told his friends all about her. "So Natsu talks about me to you guys?"

"Yeah, he talks about you quite a bit actually," Lisanna said.

Lucy felt herself blush a little, she really wanted to know what he had told them.

"And Levy told us about the towel incident and how you totally checked him out," Cana added.

Lucy felt her blush intensify, "N-No I was just shocked a-and…" she stuttered out.

"It is okay to find him attractive Lucy," Mira added her with a sweet smile.

Erza slammed her hand on the table, "I have talked to Gray so many times about not walking around the apartment naked when we have guest, I guess I will have to give Natsu the same talk when we get home." As she said this she punched her right fist into her left hand.

"You don't need to do that, it really didn't bother me," Lucy told Erza hoping she could save Natsu from her wrath again.

"Oh we know it didn't bother you," Cana yelled out with a laugh.

Lucy's whole face was flaming now she held her hands up in front of her, "No I just meant that he was fine."

"I could tell you thought he was fine," Levy added with snigger.

Lucy opened her mouth to defend herself but closed it because she knew nothing she said would help at this point. So she just buried her face in her hands. The other girls were all giggling loudly.

"Aww, don't be embarrassed Lucy," Lisanna said. "We are just messing with you."

Lucy lifter her head out of her hands all the girls were smiling gently at her.

"I do think you would make a cute couple," Mira added.

Lucy frowned at them, "We're not dating, we are just friends."

"But I saw you two holding hands at the bowling alley," Erza said.

Lucy felt her blush starting to return, "No we were not holding hands he was just showing me where they keep the balls."

"I bet he was just showing you the ba…." Mira reached over and slapped Cana's arm before she could finish her sentence.

"Cana that is inappropriate! How many of those have you had?" Mira asked

Lucy looked in front of Cana and saw three empty margarita glasses and a fourth in her hand. Cana just shrugged.

"Anyways Lu, we know you are not dating Natsu." Levy said. "Right now at least," she added under her breath.

Before Lucy could rebuke her their food came, and she decided it could wait till later.

After they ate Erza asked, "So Juvia what are you going to school for?"

"Juvia wants to be a meteorologist," she answered.

"Oh my goodness, you would make the cutest weather girl," Mira gushed.

Juvia blushed, "Oh but Juvia doesn't know if she could work in front of the camera, behind the scenes is good."

"No you are way to beautiful, nobody in their right mind would put you behind the scenes," Lisanna added.

Juvia brought her hands up to her face and smiled shyly, "Thank you."

"What about you guys what are you all going to school for?" Lucy asked.

"The awesome parties," Cana yelled out then took a large drink from her fifth glass.

The girls all laughed.

"I want to be a teacher," Mira said

"Mira will be a great teach," Lisanna said. "She is so nice, but she can turn into a demon fast. So her students will love her, but they will not dare misbehave. And I want to work with animals."

"What about you Erza?" Lucy asked.

"I want to work in a cake bakery," she said with a gleam in her eye.

"Erza thinks that she will get to eat all the cakes she wants if she works in a bakery," Mira said. "Although she is an amazing baker."

Lucy was having a hard enough time imagining Mira as a demon she could not even fathom Erza wearing an apron and covered in flour.

After they finished they were standing outside the restaurant. "This was fun, we should all hang out more often," Levy said.

Everyone all agreed. "Well my bus stop is the other way, so I will see you all later," Lucy said.

She waved then turned to walk to her bus stop happy she had got to spend the evening out with a great group of girls.


	10. The Knock

It was Saturday evening and Lucy was having a wonderfully lazy day; which included eating junk food and catching up on the shows she had missed during the week, she hadn't even changed out of her pajamas. This was all made possible by the fact that she didn't have work, had no upcoming test to study for or papers to write, and the fact that Erza, Levy, and Juvia were all having date night tonight.

She was about halfway through the latest Once Upon a Time episode when there was a very loud knock at the door. She was definitely not expecting company but she still decided to pause the show and check who was at her door. When she looked out the peephole all she could see was pink. She was pretty sure she knew who was standing outside her door, but just in case she barely cracked open the door. When she looked out she saw exactly what she expected Natsu standing outside her door.

"Hi Natsu. What are you doing here?" She asked as she opened the door all the way up.

"I was out driving around and I ended up in front of your apartment. So I decided to see what you were doing," he said with a bright grin.

Lucy gave him a quizzical look, "Why were you just driving around?"

"I had to get out of the apartment," he said with a shiver. "As soon as I opened the door I saw Levy and Gajeel making out on the couch," Natsu made a gagging noise. "If that wasn't bad enough Erza and Jellal were in the kitchen. Whenever they cook together Erza gets very handsy, and I did not want to be there when that happened. So I just turned around and walked out"

"And drove to my apartment," Lucy said

He shrugged, "Yeah pretty much. So can I come in?"

Lucy spared one second to think about the junk food bags and her pajamas before she said, "Sure, Welcome to my apartment."

Natsu walked in and looked around her living room, "It's bigger than I expected."

"Yeah it is pretty good sized for one person," she agreed as she shut her front door. "Here I will give you the grand tour." Lucy walked to the middle of her living room and pointed toward her kitchen, which had an open design, "That is my kitchen." She then pointed her finger at Natsu, "Stay out of it, I do not trust you in there." She saw his pouty face but ignored it and continued. "Down the hallway is my bedroom and the bathroom which is the first door."

She turned back to Natsu and realized she had no idea what to do now they had never hung out alone outside the coffee shop, "Uh, so what do you want to do?"

Natsu looked excited, "Lets eat, I'm hungry. What kind of food do you have here?"

Lucy thought of her empty fridge, "I don't have a lot of food here, but if you want there is a sandwich shop we could walk to."

"That sounds great." He then looked down at her, "but I think you might want to change."

Lucy shoot him a playful scowl, "Of course I am going to change," she huffed out then turned and marched to her bedroom. Once inside she quickly pulled on shorts and a tank top and ran a brush through her hair. After returning to the living room, she grabbed her purse, and they left her apartment.

They walked for a while in silence. Lucy noticed how Natsu had been curiously looking around at everything, "You know when I first dropped you off here I was worried it was a bad neighborhood, but now it looks perfectly safe."

Lucy turned her head toward him, "Of course it is, this is a lower income area, but everyone around has seemed very nice."

Natsu scratched the back of his head, "So if you just moved to Magnolia why did you pick a place so far away from school?"

"Exactly because it is so far away from the school it is a lot cheaper, and it is actually bigger than most student apartments. Here we are," Lucy said as she gestured to the shop in front of them.

They walked in and ordered their sandwiches, and decided to bring them back to Lucy's place to eat.

"So do you want to watch a movie or something?" Lucy asked Natsu as they both settled down on the sofa with their dinner.

"Sure that sounds fun," Natsu said as he took a huge bite of his sandwich.

Lucy picked up the remote and started flipping through the Netflix movies, "Just stop me when you see one you want to watch."

After she had flipped through a few categories Natsu finally said, "Wait, go back, I heard Lisanna talking about that movie."

Lucy flipped back to the last movie, "The Avengers."

"Yeah, I haven't seen that." Natsu said.

Her eyes nearly popped out of her head, she couldn't believe this, "How could you not have seen The Avengers yet?"

Natsu shrugged, "I don't really watch a lot of movies."

"Okay we can watch this, wait, have you seen any of the Iron Man, Captain America or Thor movies?" she asked.

She could tell from his confused expression that he had not. She was very excited now, "We can do a whole Marvel Movie Marathon! We can start with the first Iron Man movie. I know you are going to like these movies." Lucy scrolled through and hit play on the Iron Man movie. She then sat back and took a bite out of her sandwich as the opening scene began to play.

As they watched the movie Lucy could tell Natsu was really getting into it by the way he was practically acting out all the fight scenes on her couch. Two hours later when the movie ended she looked over at him, "So what did you think?"

"That was awesome. So what is next?" he said eagerly.

Lucy gave him a tender smile, she was happy that he was enjoying himself. "Next is Iron Man 2," Lucy found the movie and played it. Lucy was having just as much fun watching the movie as she was watching Natsu.

About another two hours later when the movie ended Lucy stood and stretched her arms and legs. She then looked over at Natsu who had been watching her intently, "So would you like some popcorn before the next movie?"

His head snapped towards the TV and she could see a faint blush on his cheeks, "Umm yeah popcorn sounds great."

Lucy walked into the kitchen wondering what could have caused Natsu to react like that, when she passed a mirror. Her tank top showed quit a bit of cleavage and the way she was stretching probably amplified it. She felt her own face begin to burn at the thought of Natsu checking her out, but it also made her kind of pleased.

"Hey Lucy you should probably make two bags," he called out.

"Okay." She walked back to the living room a few minutes later with a large bowl of popcorn, and sat it down on the sofa. Before when they had been watching the movies they both sat on opposite sides, but now they were sitting towards the middle with the popcorn bowl in-between them.

"The next one is Thor," she told him as she hit play.

After polishing off the bowl of popcorn, which was pretty early into the movie thanks to Natsu's eating habits. Lucy removed the bowl and laid out on her side of the sofa, with her head laying on the armrest and her legs tucked in. Natsu had scooted back over to the other side and was leaning against the armrest.

After the movie ended Lucy looked over at the clock it was 12:30, "It is kinda late."

Natsu looked at her and pouted his lips, "Can we watch one more?"

Lucy sighed, "Why not, I don't have any plans tomorrow."

"Awesome," he said excitedly, "but first I have to use the bathroom."

As Natsu went to the bathroom Lucy took the opportunity to stretch her legs across the sofa. When Natsu came back out she still had them on his side. She started to tuck them back under her, but he stopped her, "If your legs are cramping you can keep them stretched out. Here," he said as he sat down. He then grabbed both her ankles and pulled her feet into his lap.

Lucy's cheeks flushed, "Are you sure it's not going to bother you?"

Natsu leaned his left arm onto the armrest, but kept his right hand placed on her leg right above her ankle, "Nope it'll be fine."

Lucy could not help but smile as she leaned forward and hit play on the Captain America movie.

A little ways into the movie she felt Natsu begin to slowly rub his thumb back and forth over her skin. Her breathing hitched and her pulse quickened, but she also found the act soothing.

Halfway into the movie all of his fingers were drawing little patterns onto her skin, and now the motions were luring her to sleep.

Lucy was suddenly being softly shaken and someone was calling her name. She opened her eyes and saw Natsu crouched down in front of her with his hand on her shoulder.

"Hey sleepyhead," he said with a smile as he stood up. "The movie is over and it is pretty late now, so I going to go home." Natsu told her.

Lucy sat up and stretched, "What time is it?"

"Two-thirty," Natsu replied.

"Oh wow, Okay," she said as she stood and followed him to the door.

When Natsu reached the door he turned to face her, "Thanks for hanging out with me, I really like those movies."

Lucy smiled at him, "Of course, we will have to watch to other ones soon."

Natsu opened the door and stepped outside, "Goodnight Lucy."

Lucy waved, "Goodnight Natsu." After she watched him walk out to his car and wave one last time she shut the door. She walked to her bathroom to get ready for bed.

While she was putting her pajamas on she heard a knock at her door. She went and looked out her peephole to see Natsu standing outside her door with his arms crossed over his chest. She opened the door, "Hey, did you forget something?"

He half smiled, "No, my car won't start and nobody is answering their phones. Do you know what time the bus comes?"

Lucy frowned, "The bus stops running at midnight." Her eyes scanned her apartment trying to think of something that would help him when an idea struck her, "If you want you can sleep here tonight."

Natsu's face brightened, "Really?"

Lucy gestured for him to come in, "Of course. Here I will get you a pillow and blankets."

"Do you think you have shorts or sweatpants I might fit into also?" Natsu asked.

Lucy thought about how small all her shorts were then she smiled as she remembered the perfect article of clothing for him. She ran to her bedroom and returned with the pillow, blankets, and a pair of sweatpants that said PINK right across the butt.

Natsu's face deadpanned, "Really."

Lucy laughed, "It really is all I have that will fit you."

Natsu took the sweatpants and walked to the bathroom, when he came out they were all he had on. Lucy involuntarily bite her bottom lip, he looked very good wearing only her sweatpants. She then quickly turned towards the hallway hoping he didn't see her checking him out again. "Well goodnight Natsu."

Natsu went and sat on the sofa, "Thanks for letting me crash here. Goodnight Lucy."

 

Natsu woke up the next morning to a wonderful smell. He sat up, rubbed his eyes, and looked over to the kitchen where he saw Lucy flipping pancakes. She had put her hair up in a ponytail and was wearing her typical short shorts and a rather revealing tank top. Not that he was complaining he very much liked Lucy sense in fashion. He then remembered he was only wearing her sweatpants, he decided to put his shirt back on before greeting Lucy. He was not sure if she could handle seeing his chest this early in the morning. After he put on his shirt he walked into the kitchen and leaned against the fridge, "Good Morning Lucy."

She jumped a little then turned around, "Good Morning Natsu, pancakes are almost done."

He didn't miss how her eyes had flicked down to his shirt before she turned back to the stove. He smiled to himself then turned and went to the bathroom to try and get ready for the day.

When he came back out Lucy had placed two plates full of pancakes on her dinning table. "I hope you are hungry, cause I made a lot."

He flashed her a grin, "Oh I am defiantly hungry." He sat and began to devour his stack.

They mostly ate in silence, when they were done he grabbed his phone, "Better try and call Gajeel to see if he can come out and jump my car."

"Okay," Lucy said as she carried their plates to the sink and began to wash them.

Natsu called Gajeel who agreed to come out and see if he could get his car started.

During his conversation Lucy had come over and curled up on the other end of the sofa, "So is he coming?"

"Yeah but he won't be able to make it for a while. He also said it was a total pain in his ass and called me an idiot."

Lucy laughed then tilted her head, "What does a while mean?"

Natsu shrugged, "A hour or maybe longer."

Lucy sat up, "So what do you want to do for a hour or longer?"

He looked around her apartment and noticed she had a Wii, "Do you have any good two player games?"

She jumped up and began to set up the Wii, "I have Mario Cart!"

Natsu grinned, "Oh I am totally going to beat you!"

About three games and twenty minutes later they heard a knock on the door. They paused their current game and Lucy ran over to the door. Natsu could only consider for a moment that it seemed pretty quick for Gajeel to be here, before Lucy yanked open the door. Instead of Gajeel being at the door a large middle aged man with blonde hair and a moustache stood there. Natsu noticed how Lucy stiffened at the site of the man.

"Hello Lucy," the blonde man said.

In an icy voice Lucy replied, "Hello father."

Natsu had never seen Lucy act cold towards anybody, and the stiff manner in which her father addressed her made Natsu realize something severe had happened between them. As he watched them a little longer he noticed Lucy's knuckles begin to turn white from her death grip on the door, he could tell the site of her father made her very distressed. So he went and stood beside her then placed his hand on her mid back hoping that his presence could bring her some comfort.

 

Lucy felt her body go cold with dread after she opened the door and saw her father standing there. She couldn't move, but her mind was running with questions. How had he found where she lived? Why was he here? Why after all this time would he find her now that she was happy? He then greeted her in the formal tone he always used and she managed to return his greeting, but her voice was laced with contempt. She nearly jumped when she felt something touch her back, but when she turned and saw Natsu standing beside her she felt a little more confident.

She turned back to look at her father, but he was sneering down at Natsu. She could imagine the kinds of things he would think about her pink haired friend, and all of them pissed her off. "What are you doing here father?"

Her father ignored her question and stuck his hand out towards Natsu, "Hello I am Jude Heartfilia Lucy's father."

Natsu raised his eyebrows at him but removed his right hand from Lucy's back and shook his hand, "Natsu Dragneel." After they shook hands Natsu returned his hand to her back. This time though he placed it on her lower back and slightly pulled her closer to him as he took a step towards her.

Lucy repeated her question, "So what are you doing here?"

Jude finally turned his attention to Lucy, "I came to see you."

His statement almost sounded like he meant it, but Lucy knew better now. "After a year and a half you now feel the need to see me."

Jude's polite smile twitched, "I would have come sooner, but you did not make finding you easy."

So he had been looking for her. Lucy swallowed hard, "How did you find me?"

"I hired the best private investigators in the country to find you, after months of looking one finally found out you had enrolled in college. It did not take long after that to find out where you worked and lived."

Lucy took a deep breath a P.I. must have been following her around for who knows how long now. "So what is it that you want from me?"

Jude tried to look like her words had upset him, "As I said I wanted to see you."

"And I don't believe you," Lucy spat, "You never wanted to see me when I lived at the house, why do you care now."

Her father scowled, "You are Lucy Heartfilia you do not belong out here. It is time to come home and perform your duties as the Heartfilia Heiress."

Finally Lucy knew the real reason why he was here, and it was why she had run away in the first place. Hoping she could reason with her father she said, "It's the middle of my first semester, I am not leaving now."

Jude raised his eyebrows at her, "If you must you can have your fun and finish this semester, but after that you will be coming home." Jude waited for her response, but Lucy was only shaking her head. "There is no reason you need to work or go to college."

Lucy's mouth dropped open, "I want to go to college for myself, so that I can become a writer."

Jude was now shaking his head, "Lucy if you want to write, then the company can publish your books. There is no need for you to waste your time here. Besides what would your fiancé think of all this," he said as he gestured mostly towards Natsu.

Lucy heard Natsu inhale sharply and jerk his hand from her back. She clenched her fist, she was furious now. She began to shout, "How dare you come here and say that to me!" Lucy felt Natsu return his hand to her back and begin to rub little circles into it. "I am eighteen years old you have no control over my life anymore, I ran away from that house, I left you and the money! I am here on my own working and taking out loans so that I can live how I want to live! Not how you dictate how my life should be, and I never agreed to marry anyone!" Lucy stopped and took a deep breath trying to calm herself down. "I think you should leave and please do not come back unless you actually want to see me."

Jude had a stony look on his face as he looked between Lucy and Natsu, "Fine, I will leave for today, but you will come back." With that he turned and walked back to the car that was waiting for him.

Lucy slammed the door closed and then she felt her entire body begin to shake. No matter how angry she was at her father, she was mostly sad because she still loved him and wished he cared about her happiness. She tried to take some deep calming breaths again but they all caught in her throat.

She saw Natsu turn to face her, "Lucy?"

She took a step back from him and covered her face with her hands. She really did not want to cry in front of him, but her shaking became uncontrollable and she felt her knees start to give out. Right when she though she was going to fall to the floor she felt Natsu's arm encircle her body and pull her to his chest. She finally broke down and let out her tears. She leaned her head on his shoulder and clutched his shirt as she stood there and cried.

When she was able to compose herself again she took a step back from him and dried her eyes. She looked up at him and saw that his face was etched with concern. "Sorry you had to witness that."

"It's fine." His face scrunched up and he looked like he was debating asking about it, "So that is your father."

Lucy let out a half laugh half sob, "Yep that is Jude Heartfilia president of the Heartfilia Company."

Natsu scratched his head, "I just realized I did not know your last name until now."

"I learned not to mention it to people," she explained.

His eyes suddenly widened, "So you are like a millionaire."

She pursed her lips, "Was."

"Right, sorry," Natsu said with a sheepish smile.

"It's okay, Natsu."

He looked like he was trying hard not to ask her another questions, but couldn't help it. "So you have a fiancé?"

Lucy reached out and softly slapped his chest, "Of course not. Come on let's sit down and I will tell you about growing up as Lucky Lucy Heartfilia the millionaire heiress."

They went and sat on the sofa and she told him about herself. She started with how she was born into a loving family till her mother died then her father grew more and more distant. How she had convinced her father to let her go to a prep school, but had hated it. How one day her father had called her into a meeting and informed her that he had arranged her marriage, so that he could groom her fiancé into becoming the next head of the company.

"I begged and begged for him to change his mind, when I realized he would never would I grabbed as much of my stuff as I could and ran. That was at the beginning of last summer."

Natsu had been sitting and listening quietly to her as she told her story.

"I ran away to Crocus, used what money I had to rent an apartment there, and enrolled in a public school for my senior year. When I started to run out of money I got a job as a waitress at a twenty-four hour diner. After what I had been through with my father I was pretty shut off from everyone else and just coasted by the whole year. It was a little before my graduation that I realized I could not keep living like that. So I applied to college, moved to Magnolia, and started working at the coffee shop. Then I meet you and I started making friends again." Lucy said and smiled her first genuine smile since her father had arrived.

She watched as Natsu's eyes widened and his mouth opened then closed. He then leaned forward and reached for her, but before he could touch her there was a loud knock at the door.

Lucy felt her heart begin to pound and her mouth go dry; her father could not be back already. Before she could act, Natsu ran over and looked out of the peephole. "It's just Gajeel," he said as he opened the door.

"Hey Salamander," Gajeel greeted then immediately punched Natsu in the shoulder. "That is for making me drive out here." He then leaned around Natsu and waved at Lucy, "Hey Bunny Girl."

Lucy was too emotionally exhausted to ask why she was a bunny girl, so she just waved back, "Hi Gajeel."

When she looked at Natsu he was giving her a worried look. She smiled at him, "Go fix your car, I will be okay."

Natsu nodded his head then he and a confused looking Gajeel walked outside.

Lucy heard Gajeel say, "Nice sweatpants," before they shut the door behind them.

Lucy went to her bathroom and splashed some cold water on her face hoping it would make her eyes not seem as red and puffy, she then walked outside and watched as they hooked up Natsu's car to Gajeels and started his engine. The scene helped cheer Lucy up because it involved a lot of yelling and them hitting each other. Once Natsu's car was running again Gajeel grunted out a goodbye and left.

Natsu walked over to Lucy, "I can stay longer if you need me too."

She smiled at him, "That is nice of you, but I am fine now." She looked down, "I hate to say it, but I am glad you were here for that." She looked back up at his face, "It probably would have been a lot worse if I was on my own."

"I am glad I was here too," he said. He stood looking at her for a second as if he was contemplating something then suddenly turned and began to walk to his car. "For the most part I had a fun time," he called over his shoulder.

Lucy laughed, "Me too, remember we have to watch the rest of the movies soon."

Natsu reached his car door and waved to her, "Yeah I will be back over here before you know it. Bye Lucy."

Lucy waved back, "Bye Natsu."

She turned and walked back into her apartment as Natsu pulled out of her parking lot.


	11. Hargeon

It was Thursday two weeks after Jude had made his unexpected visit to Lucy. She had not heard from him since then, but she had a nagging feeling he would be back again soon. Since then Natsu and she had finished the Marvel movies, and she had also enjoyed another night out with the girls. Currently Lucy was having lunch with Natsu, Levy, and Gajeel at one of college's cafeterias.

"That Pervy Popsicle is late," Natsu said as he glanced around the cafeteria. Lucy knew now that that was one of Gray's many nicknames, and said pervy popsicle was supposed to be joining them for lunch.

"Who cares," Gajeel grunted out between bites of food.

Levy rolled her eyes at her boyfriend, "I am sure his training is just running long today."

"I heard Juvia mention he was training, what is it for?" Lucy asked.

Levy opened her mouth to respond, but Natsu beat her to it, "The idiotic snowcone is training for a…."

"Who are you calling an idiot?" Gray appeared beside their table with a tray of food and was glaring at Natsu.

"Actually I called you an idiotic snowcone," Natsu answered him with a return glare.

Natsu and Gray were staring daggers at each other, so Lucy decided to intervene before they started throwing food, "So what are you training for?"

Gray broke his staring contest with Natsu and looked over to her, "The Hargeon Ice Triathlon."

Lucy was impressed, "That is really cool Gray."

Gray nodded in agreement then shifted his gaze back to Natsu, "Now move over so that I can sit down," he said as he shoved Natsu further into the booth. This caused Natsu to be pushed up against Lucy; surprised by the sudden contact she quickly slid over to make room. Once Gray was seated and they were all adjusted Lucy's right side was flush with the wall and her left side was pressed into Natsu. She had never sat this close to him and her skin tingled where it meet his. Lucy then noticed Natsu trying to wriggle his arm out from between them; once it was free he placed it around her shoulders. Her heart began to pound in her chest; the position allowed her to feel just how muscular his chest and arms were, but they also had a softness to them that Lucy felt she could nestle into.

Shaking her head and hoping to clear those thoughts Lucy asked, "So why is it called the Ice Triathlon?"

"Because the swimming part takes place in the ocean." Gray answered as he began to eat his food.

Her mouthed widened in surprise, "But its fall, the water will be way to cold to swim in."

"Cold doesn't really bother me," he answered her.

"That's because you are an ice freak," Natsu added under his breath.

"Most of us are going to watch him," Levy said. Then her face lit up with an idea, "Lu it would be so much fun if you went too. It is in two weekends, do you think you could make it? We are leaving Friday night and coming back Sunday"

Lucy thought about her work schedule, "I work Friday, but maybe I can go a little early. I will ask." She felt Natsu shift beside her and his hand brush against her shoulder.

"If you go it won't be so boring," he said with a grin. Then Gray immediately slapped him in the back of the head.

"It is not boring, and I heard that ice freak comment." He looked past Natsu to Lucy, "But you should come, Juvia would like that too."

Lucy smiled, "I will defiantly try."

 

It was a week later on Friday and Lucy was waiting at her apartment to be picked up to go to Hargeon. When she heard the screeching of Natsu's car she grabbed her suitcase and walked out the door. Once in the parking lot she saw the familiar sight of Natsu and Gray arguing in the front seats, one difference was that this time there was a dejected looking Juvia sitting in the back seat. Knowing they were not going to stop yelling at each other Lucy walked over and opened Natsu's door, "Open your trunk so I can put my suitcase in."

He finally looked over to her, "Hey Lucy." He looked at her bag, "I can get that for you." Natsu jumped out of the car, grabbed her bag from her, and carried it to his trunk.

As he flung her suitcase in Lucy climbed into the back seat beside Juvia and greeted them. Gray waved his hand in response, but Juvia looked excited.

"Juvia is so glad you are here, they have been fighting since we left," she whined the last part out.

"Sounds like this is going to be a fun trip," Lucy said sarcastically. She looked out the window for another car, "Where is Levy and everyone else?"

Gray turned around to face her, "Gajeel is driving Levy, Erza and Jellal. They already left."

"What about Mira, Elfman, Lisanna, and Cana?" Lucy asked.

"Tomorrow is the anniversary of Mira, Elfman, and Lisanna's parents death. Every year they go back to their hometown, so they are not going to be able to come. And Cana said she was not going to miss the best party of the semester to watch me freeze my ass off." Gray told her then went back to scanning through the radio.

Lucy nodded her head that sounded like Cana. Then she remembered she hadn't seen much of the Strauss's in the last week, it must be a hard week for them.

Natsu got back into the driver seat, "Your suitcase is so big, what all did you need to pack for one weekend?"

Lucy opened her mouth to respond but instead Gray said, "It can't be as bad as Erza."

"That is true good thing Gajeel has a truck or all of her suitcases would have never fit", Natsu said as he pulled out of the parking lot. Their two-hour drive to Hargeon went fairly smoothly Natsu and Gray only argued every ten minutes.

Once they arrived at the hotel and checked in the girls divided from the boys and went to their room. Their room had two double beds, which they would be sharing, and an amazing view of the Hargeon Port. Lucy looked out the window and thought about how long it had been since she had been in a hotel room this nice, her thoughts reminded her, "I haven't paid for anything, shouldn't I pay for part of the room."

Erza turned from where she was digging through one of her suitcases and looked at her, "Don't worry the headmaster of Fairy Tail paid for both of the rooms, he wanted to make sure we came to support Gray."

"That was nice of him," Lucy said.

"Juvia wishes she could have stayed alone with Gray," she said with a pout.

"Yeah," Levy agreed, "It would have been nice to stay with our boyfriends, but Lucy and Natsu aren't dating yet. I guess that would have been awkward for you. Oh but he did already spend the night with you."

Erza's face turned red, "I didn't know you had that kind of relationship."

Lucy began to splutter, "I don't, we are just friends." She looked at Levy and whined, "Why did you have to say it like that."

Levy shrugged her shoulders, "It is true, and you two would make a cute couple. Plus I think Natsu likes you even though he has a weird way of showing it."

Before Lucy could refute Levy she saw Erza place her hand on her chin and close her eyes in concentration, "He has never shown romantic interest in girls before. I always assumed he was too childish, but I have to agree with Levy now. He does seem to view you differently."

Lucy's face was flaming red now; she could not believe they both thought that Natsu liked her. He had never shown any romantic interest in her, sure they hung out a lot now; they had gone out to dinner by themselves and would watch movies at her apartment, but none of those times were considered dates. Were they? He had never said they were and he had definitely never tried to kiss her. A loud banging at the hotel door ripped her out of her thoughts.

"What is taking so long, we are hungry," She heard Natsu yelling on the other side of the door. Hearing his voice made it sink in that she had just been thinking about dating him, which was crazy because they were just friends. He didn't seem to see them as anything else no matter what Levy and Erza thought.

Erza walked over and flung open the door, she must have been glaring at them because all the guys cowered a little bit. "It is rude to yell Natsu, how many times have I told you that." She sighed and looked over her shoulder, "Is everyone ready?" The girls agreed and they all headed for the restaurant.

Everyone chatted as they walked to the restaurant that was a few blocks away, except Lucy who walked at the back of the group. She was still immersed in her thoughts about Natsu and dating. She wondered if maybe the reason she always put the emphasis on him not liking her that way was because she wanted him to.

 

Natsu had noticed that Lucy had been quiet since they had left the hotel. He also noticed that every time he had tried to make eye contact with her she had quickly looked away. When they reached the restaurant and were seated he went and took the seat beside her. Lucy seemed to be deep in thought about something so he leaned close to her ear and whispered, "Lucy are you okay?"

She shrieked and nearly fell out of her chair, "Natsu don't get so close that scared me!"

Her cheeks had a faint tinting of pink, and he heard the other girls begin to giggle. He turned and gave them a confused look, but they just continued to laugh. When he looked back to Lucy she was scowling at them, her reaction to them laughing only worsened his confusion. Since she only seemed to be being weird around him he tried to think if he had done anything to cause her to act that way, but she had been acting normal until they had all gone to unpack. Tired of trying to figure it out he decided to just ask her, "Why are you being a weirdo?"

Lucy looked back at him and her blush deepened, "I am not acting weird, you just got really close to me that's all."

Right when he was about to tell her that wasn't the only reason she was acting weird he heard Gray laugh beside him, "Clearly she doesn't want your ugly mug that close to her face."

Before he could tell Gray exactly what part of his body he thought was ugly the waiter arrived to take their order. As dinner went on Lucy seemed to be acting normal again, but he did catch her glancing at him a few times then she would blush and quickly look away.

After Dinner everyone decided to call it an early night since the triathlon started early the next morning. They walked back to their hotel and when everybody was getting into the elevator Natsu grabbed Lucy's hand and pulled her back. She turned and looked at him with wide questioning eyes, but he just waved at the rest of the group, "We will catch back up with you guys later."

The elevator doors closed and he proceeded to pull her to a more private location. Once in a quiet hall he turned to face her. Her face was flaming red and she was fidgeting, "Natsu what are you doing?"

Now that he had her alone he was not exactly sure what he wanted to say. He wanted to know why she had been acting awkward around him all night, but was now unsure if he should ask her about it. Whatever it was he had clearly made it worse by dragging her into a deserted hallway. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, "I just wanted to make sure you were okay, you have been acting weird around me all evening. I am worried I made you upset somehow."

As he said this Lucy's gaze softened and she stilled. She gripped his hand tighter, "I am not upset with you. I'm sorry I have been acting weird; the girls just said something that caused me to act like that. You don't need to worry about it."

Natsu felt his chest unclench. He was glad to know that he was not the cause of whatever was bothering her. He did wonder what had caused it though, "So what did they say."

Lucy's eyes widened a little, "It doesn't really matter." She then turned and pulled him by the hand, "We should get back to the rooms before they start to think we are doing something else."

Natsu allowed Lucy to pull him back down the hall. She was starting to act weird again, "What would they think we are doing?"

Lucy let out and unnatural loud laugh, "HA! Who knows but we should hurry." With that she started to walk faster down the hallway.

When they reached the girls door she seemed to have calmed down again. She turned and faced him and gave him a soft smile, "Thank you for worrying Natsu that was really sweet of you, sorry again for acting weird. Well goodnight."

"Goodnight Lucy," he said then they both stood there. "You know you are going to have to let go of my hand if you want me to go."

Lucy yanked her hand out of his, "S-sorry," she stuttered out. Then she opened her door and stepped inside. "Goodnight Natsu," she said in a rush as she slammed the door closed behind her.

As Natsu walked down the hallway to his room he swore he heard giggling coming from the room.


	12. Hargeon Ice Triathlon

Natsu awoke the next morning to the most horrible sound, Gray's voice. "Come on man it is already seven-thirty you need to wake up, everyone else is already down at the beach."

Natsu groggily sat up and looked around, the bed where Gajeel and Jellal had been sleeping was empty. He rubbed his eyes and looked at Gray who was in the midst of changing his clothes. "Why are you here, doesn't it start at eight?"

"I have been out warming up this morning, I just had to come back and change to my official uniform," he said as he finished putting on his uniform which consisted of a black, white, and army-green tri-suit that had his contestant number sewn onto it.

Natsu stumbled to the bathroom and got ready. When he came back out Gray had already left. He made his way down to the lobby then out across the boardwalk to the beach to look for everyone else. Once he got to the spectators viewing area he easily spotted his group of friends; they were always easy to find with their vibrant hair colors, although one blonde head seemed to be missing.

Once Erza caught sight of him she narrowed her eyes and began to march towards him. "Finally you got up, I thought I was going to have to go up to your room and drag you out of there myself."

A sudden flash of Erza throwing him out of bed made Natsu glad Gray had been the one to wake him up. "Well, I am here now."

Erza nodded her head, "Yes, good, we have about twenty minutes before it starts."

When he looked around again and still didn't see Lucy he had a sinking feeling in his stomach that whatever had been upsetting her last night was still bothering her. "Where's Lucy?" he finally asked.

"Lu had to run up to the room she forgot her camera. She should be back soon," Levy answered

He felt the sinking feeling go away, he was happy she was not avoiding him.

"There she is now," Juvia said as she pointed back towards the hotel.

Natsu turned to look in the direction and saw Lucy was about fifty feet from them, but some guy had stopped her and was talking to her. She was nodding and smiling politely at what the guy was saying. Natsu was glad she did not seem all frazzled like she had been last night. As he observed them he noticed that the man continuously bent his head down, like he was examining something. Natsu tried to see what the man was looking at when he noticed that Lucy's camera was hanging around her neck, right in front of the very low neckline on her dress. It was pretty clear to him what the man was actually checking out, but Lucy did not seem to realize it. When she finally looked over at them her eyes landed on Natsu, and he could have sworn her cheeks blushed for a second before she smiled and waved. She quickly said goodbye to the man and crossed the rest of the distance to them.

"Natsu you finally woke up I see," she greeted him with a playful smile.

"Yeah," Natsu looked over her shoulder at the man who was still leering at her. Natsu got the sudden urge to shield her from the man, so he sent him his scariest glare and stepped closer to her. "Do you know that guy?"

Lucy tilted her head to the side then looked behind her, "Oh him? No I don't, he was just really interested in my camera."

A short barking laugh came from Gajeel, "I'm sure, he was just interested in your camera."

Lucy looked confused till she looked down and seemed to notice for the first time exactly what her camera was hanging in front of. Her face turned bright red and she began to splutter, "No he knew a lot of stuff about the brand." She stopped and her shoulders slumped, "Who am I kidding, he was staring strait at my chest."

Natsu felt his fist clench, "You should go punch him."

Lucy cocked her head to the side and crossed her arms over her chest, "Natsu I can't go around punching people for checking me out."

Natsu heard a light laugh from Levy, "She would be punching people constantly if she did that."

"Why, does that kind of thing happen a lot to you?" Natsu asked Lucy.

"Seriously?" Levy asked. Natsu looked around at everyone some of them looked surprised, but others looked slightly amused by his question. "Lu gets hit on all the time. There is this one guy from our class that is pretty persistent," Levy answered him.

Her statement surprised Natsu; he had never seen her getting hit on. Except that one time at the coffee shop, which brought back a vague memory of something Gray had said. He felt his chest begin to ache. The thought of Lucy having to endure that all the time just because of how she looked pissed him off.

"Come on everyone, lets go get seats before it starts," Erza said in a commanding voice.

Everyone began to proceed to the stands, when they found enough space for all of them Natsu sat down between Lucy and Erza. He could feel the excitement in the stands, and decided to focus on the triathlon and push the thoughts of Lucy and other guys out of his head for now.

"Wow I didn't know so many people had entered," Lucy looked in wonder at all the participants; there must have been about one hundred and fifty this year.

Erza leaned across Natsu, "Yes this is a very big event in Hargeon, much of the beach and city have been blocked off for it today."

Natsu looked down at the beach in front of the stands where the participants had gathered. They were currently being boated out to a floating platform located a little less than a mile away where the triathlon would start. The first part of the race was swimming; the participants will swim from the platform to the shoreline, where the running part will start. They will run along the beach for three miles before turning into the city and continuing for three more. At that point they will reach the biking stage of the triathlon. They will bike twenty-five miles on a set course through Hargeon, before crossing the finish line, which was located on the boardwalk behind the stands. There were many projectors set up on the beach and lots of cameras on the course, so that the spectators could watch the entire event.

Suddenly Juvia jumped up and pointed towards the boats, "Look there is Gray!"

They all looked out at the boats and saw that Gray had been loaded onto one and was talking to a man with silver hair.

"Ugh-oh," Erza said.

"What's wrong, did something happen to Gray," Juvia asked frantically.

"No, nothings wrong," Erza said quickly trying to calm her down. "You see that guy he is sitting beside?"

Juvia nodded her head.

"Well they knew each other before Gray moved to Magnolia and they meet again last year. His name is Lyon and he has a way of getting under Gray's skin, I hope he doesn't bother him to much before the race starts," Erza explained.

Juvia puffed out her cheeks and yelled, "Stay focused Gray, you can do it!"

Most of the people sitting around them turned to look at her. Juvia's face flamed red and she quickly sat down.

The last of the boats arrived at the platform and all of the participants were gathered at the edge. The projectors turned on and the announcer popped up on the screen, "Hello Ladies and Gentlemen, Welcome to the 34th Hargeon Ice Triathlon! We have many great participants this year. The race will commence in a few minutes."

Lucy turned to look at Natsu she had a huge smile spread across her face, "This is really exciting! How well do you think Gray will do?"

"Last year he finished in the top half, which was pretty good, considering it was his first year. This year he wants to finish in the top quarter, but I think he will be happy as long as he finishes before Lyon." He answered her.

The announcer came back on, "The Ice Triathlon is about to start, all the racers are in their starting positions." BANG the starting gun was fired. Natsu watched at the contestants dove into the water and made their way to the shore.

"Swimming is this cold of water would hinder most people, but since he is an ice freak this will be his strongest leg of the race. He is hoping to finish with the top group," Natsu continued to explain to Lucy

"The first few swimmers are reaching the shore," the announcer said a few minutes later.

Natsu and the others cheered when they saw that Gray was in the first group of people to come out of the water. They watched as he grabbed his tennis shoes from his spot and hurriedly pulled them on. Natsu noted with a scowl that Lyon was also already out of the water and was slightly ahead of Gray.

Lucy scrunched her eyebrows together, "Why is Gray slowing down so much?"

"Running in the sand is hard and it can make you tired fast. So he plans on taking this part the slowest," Natsu answered her.

She nodded her head as she and everyone else stared intently at the screens. Most of the runners were now far enough down the beach that they could not be seen anymore. After forty-five minutes the announcer came on again, "Some racers have reached the bikes, and are now starting the last part of the Ice Triathlon."

Natsu scanned the screens. He saw that Gray was approaching the bike area, but he had fallen back quite a bit from where he had started. Lyon had also fallen back, and was looking more tired than Gray. They both reached their bikes at the same time and jumped on.

Natsu leaned back and stretched his arms. Lucy looked over at him with a questioning look. "This part can take up to two hours, so you might as well get comfortable."

Not much happened for the first hour and a half after the bike race started, Gray and Lyon both had steadily made up their lost ground, but still stayed neck in neck with each other. Once they reached the flag that marked the last quarter of the race Lyon took a hard turn and cut off Gray. They all held sucked in their breaths as they watched Gray's bike began to wobble. Natsu felt his hand being grabbed and looked down to see that Lucy had a death grip on it. He looked at her face and saw that she was completely zoned into the race, she didn't even seem to notice she had grabbed onto his hand. Natsu turned his hand over and interlaced their fingers before returning his attention to the screen where he saw that Gray had regained control of his bike, but Lyon had picked up his pace and was starting to pull ahead. Gray quickened his speed and easily caught back up to Lyon. They continued with their faster pace for the last part of the course and when they were reaching the end of the course they started doing everything they could to try and pull ahead of the other.

"Our first athlete has crossed the finish line!" the announcer said.

Natsu saw that Gray looked to be in pretty good standing where he was now, he might even be in the top quarter. Gray and Lyon continued to give it their all, when they reached the last turn Natsu felt Lucy's grip on his hand tighten even more. He looked around at the rest of his friends, Juvia had shredded her program, Levy was cheering loudly, Gajeel was trying to look uninterested but Natsu knew better, Erza had Jellal in a strangle hold, but he was still sitting calmly. Natsu looked back to the screens to see Gray and Lyon were perfectly tied coming down the strait away to the finish. They were both peddling as fast as they could, there was nobody else around them, and it seemed like they were going to tie. Suddenly Natsu saw Juvia jump up and bolt to the top of the stands, once she was facing the direction of the finish line she shouted out, "Juvia believes in you Gray!"

Natsu snapped his head back to the screens where he saw a look of total determination come over Gray's face. Gray began to peddle harder and faster than it seemed possible, Lyon's eyes widened in shock. They crossed the finish line with Gray crossing just inches in front of Lyon. Natsu was suddenly jerked up as Lucy jumped up in the air with a cheer. She seemed surprised when she saw that they were holding hands, but just shrugged and pulled him into a celebratory hug.

They all hurried out of the stands to where Gray was. Juvia immediately ran and jumped into his arms, but in Gray's exhausted state he could not support their combined weight and they crashed to the ground. "Juvia is so proud of you," she cried out as she bent down and kissed him.

After they finished Natsu walked over and held his hand out to help lift them both back up, "So what place did you get?"

"I came in at 42nd," Gray answered after he was fully upright again.

"That puts you in the top thirty percent, and you beat Lyon. I am very proud of you also," Erza told him.

Gray smirked, "Yeah I was only a little worried that jerk might beat me."

"Who are you calling a jerk?" Came a lofty voice

They all turned to see Lyon walking up to them. When he reached them Lyon's eyes shifted over to Juvia and they bulged out. He clasped her hands between his, "Who is this lovely lady?"

Juvia blushed at his bold words, "My name is Juvia."

Gray wrapped his arm around her waist and narrowed his eyes, "Are you staying for the celebration Lyon?"

Lyon quickly looked between the two before he dropped Juvia's hand. "Yes I will be staying," he began to turn and walk away, "But first I need to find Toby and Yuka." He glanced back over his shoulder and looked strait at Juvia, "I am sure I will be seeing you later."

After Lyon had walked away Gray let out a sigh, "I need to take a shower and change, I will meet you guys on the beach." As he started walking back to the hotel everyone watched with open-mouthed expressions as he began to take off his shoes and tri-suit.

"Gray your clothes," Erza shouted at him.

He jumped and looked down where he had already pulled his suit down enough to expose his chest, "Shit!"

They all burst out laughing. Once they had settled down Lucy asked, "What is the celebration Gray mentioned?"

"Didn't we tell you about it?" Levy asked clearly surprised.

Lucy shook her head.

"The city of Hargeon hosts a party for the athletes and their guest on the part of the beach that was used for the triathlon." Erza informed her.

"It is so much fun Lu, they have games, music, and food. It last all night too," Levy was bouncing up and down in excitement.

Lucy looked very excited, "That does sound like a lot of fun."

Natsu started to head down to the beach, "Come on I'm hungry."

 

When they reached the beach they saw that much of it had already been transformed, the event staff has started working as soon as the last contestant had entered the city. They grabbed food and headed to a table. About ten minutes later Gray joined them. Once she had finished eating Lucy jumped up, "I think I am going to walk around and take some pictures."

"Do you want me to go with you Lu?" Levy asked her.

"You don't have to, I am going to stick close by and just take a few," she answered.

Levy decided to stay, so Lucy grabbed her camera and headed closer to the water. She took pictures of the ocean, the people on the beach, but mostly she took pictures of her friends as they talked and laughed with each other. She remembered when she had asked her father for a camera on one of the occasions he was home and she though he had ignored her request, but the next week she received a package from him. When she opened it she found a top of the line camera inside, she had been so happy that he had thought about her. She planned on using it when she started high school with the friends she would make, but when that didn't turn out like she had hoped she started using it less and less. The night she ran away she found it in one of her drawers and decided to bring it with her. She was glad now that she had made that decision, since she had great friends to take pictures of. She zoomed in on Natsu who was standing on top of the table and doing the silliest dance she had ever seen.

A loud cough from behind her caught her attention. She turned around to see the guy that had stopped and talked to her that morning. "Hello, it is nice to see you again, I see that you have your camera out, have you taken any good pictures?"

Lucy tried to smile, but she could tell it seemed fake. "Yes I have gotten some shots of the beach and the water." He continued to ask her questions and he never once looked at her chest. She decided they must have been wrong about him, because he only seemed interested in the camera. When she thought that he was done talking she began to say goodbye, but he stopped her, "I have a camera very similar to yours up in my hotel room if you want to go and look at it."

This made warning bells go off in her head, there was no way in hell she was going to his hotel room. She tried to be polite as she declined, "That is nice, but no thank you."

This did not deter the man, "It has different features than yours and I have some lenses that I don't use anymore that you can have."

Lucy started to get a little worried and was glad she was in a heavily populated area. "Again no thanks. I should really get back to my friends," she said as she gestured behind her to where they were sitting.

The man moved towards her, "I am sure they will be fine without you for a little bit."

She was completely freaked out now and just when she was about to turn and run back to her friends she felt an arm sling around her shoulders. She turned her head and saw Natsu glowering at the man. "Hey Lucy, you have been over here for a while we were starting to wonder if you were ever coming back," he said to her, but never took his eyes off the man.

Lucy knew he came over here to rescue her, but she didn't need rescuing. "I was just about to," she said in slight agitation.

"So that means you were leaving," Natsu hissed at the man not seeming to understand Lucy was upset with him.

The man quickly turned and walked away. When he was out of sight Lucy elbowed Natsu in the ribs, his arm jerked off of her shoulders and he stepped back from her, "What was that for?"

Lucy crossed her arms over her chest, "I was handling him, you didn't need to come over here and save me."

Natsu threw is hands up, "Are you serious, he was about to grab you."

"We are in the middle of a crowded beach, you were standing right over there, what could he have possible done?"

Natsu stared at her for a while, then exhaled slowly, "I know he could not have done anything." He clenched his fist, "and if he had tried I would have beaten him to a pulp." He unclenched his fist and his eyes softened as he looked at her, "I just don't like that you have to deal with guys like that."

Lucy felt her anger dissipate, "I am sorry I yelled at you. I just get mad now when people treat me like I cant take care of myself, I got that enough from my father. I'm sure that if that happened anywhere but here I would have gladly accepted your help." She reached out and grabbed his hand, "Come on lets go back."

When they reached the table Gajeel looked up at them, "Look Bunny Girl didn't get taken by that creeper."

"Gajeel," Levy chided as she slapped his arm.

"We are glad you are back, did you get any good pictures?" Erza asked.

Lucy smiled brightly, "Yeah I took a lot of pictures of you guys. I can send them to you."

"Juvia wants pictures of Gray," she shouted out.

As the day progressed they played games, danced, and ate lots of food. Lyon and his friends had hung out with them some also, although he only seemed to be interested in Juvia. Now it was after sunset; they bought S'mores supplies and gathered driftwood to make a campfire which they all sat around on their beach towels. "How can you eat yours so burnt," Lucy asked Natsu with a wrinkle of her nose.

"What lots of people like burnt marshmallows," he said as he allowed another marshmallow to catch fire.

"But you burned you graham cracker too, and I'm pretty sure that last marshmallow was still on fire."

Natsu pushed the S'more he had just made towards her, "It's good try it."

Lucy held up her hands, "No thanks."

"Your loss," he said as he popped it into his mouth.

Gray yawned really loudly, "I am exhausted. I think I will go back to the hotel."

As he stood, Juvia also stood, "Juvia will go with you." After they gathered all of their stuff they told everyone goodnight and walked back to the hotel.

The rest of the group sat in silence cooking and eating more S'mores. Until in a low voice Levy said "Lets tell ghost stories." Everyone agreed and Levy went first. It was about an hour later and Jellal had just finished telling the most horrifying story Lucy had ever heard when a sudden shrieking sound caused her to nearly jump out of her own skin.

Erza looked down and silenced her alarm, "It's time."

"T-time for what?" Lucy asked.

Erza's had a determined gleam in her eyes, "I am going to find Hargeon's famous Midnight Bakery food truck. They are rumored to have the best strawberry cake, but they only come out after ten on the weekends." She stood and pumped her fist into the air, "I will have that cake!"

Jellal stood and grabbed their belongings then followed Erza into the city.

After watching Jellal and Erza leave Lucy turned her head back to see that Levy was leaning her head into Gajeel's chest and he was running a hand through her hair. She remembered how Levy said it would be nice it she could have some alone time with Gajeel this weekend and Lucy decided now would be the perfect time. She leaned over towards Natsu who had started to grab another marshmallow and in a whispered tone asked, "Do you want to go on a walk with me?"

He looked over at her, then back down at his marshmallow where he seemed to ponder his decision before he put the marshmallow down, "Sure."

As they stood up they caught Levy's attention, "Are you guys leaving too?"

"No we are just going to take a walk," Lucy answered her as she and Natsu set off down the beach.

"Why did you decide to take a walk?" he asked once they were out of earshot.

"I thought it would be nice if we let them be alone."

He gave her a curious look, "Why, they are alone all the time at the apartment?"

"It is different here though. They are on a beach at night surrounded by firelight. It is very romantic."

Natsu considered her statement, "I guess that would be."

Lucy smiled happy that he understood. They continued their walk down the beach in comfortable silence till Lucy saw a large piece of driftwood. She walked over to it and sat down, and Natsu sat beside her. "I am glad I got to come this weekend. It has been a lot of fun." She tilted her head up to look at the sky, "Plus the stars are beautiful out here, they can be so hard to see in the city."

"Yeah," Natsu agreed. They sat in silence for a few moments until Natsu moved off the log and laid down in the sand. He placed both hands behind his head, "You can see them a lot better if you lay down."

"I would but I don't want to get sand all in my hair."

Natsu tilted his head back and looked at her. He then propped himself up on his elbow and began to unravel his scarf from around his neck. After he got it off he folded it into a square then he laid back down like he had been before with his hands behind his head, but this time he had placed his scarf on the bend in his arm, "Here you can lay your head on this."

Lucy felt her heart begin to pound. He wanted her to lay her head on his arm, "Are you sure?"

"Of course."

With her heart pounding so hard she could hear it, she got up and sat down beside him, she twisted her hair up and laid her head down on his scarf. She angled her body slightly away from his, so that they weren't pressed together. When she got comfortable she looked up at the sky and gasped, it was a much better view, she could see the slight glow of the city behind her but mostly she saw the vast expanse of the stars above the ocean.

After taking it all in for a moment she said, "The stories my mother used to tell me were about the constellations."

"I would like to hear one."

She felt her breathing hitch, "You want me to tell you one of my mother's stories?"

"If you want to."

Lucy nodded, happy to share one of her precious stories with him. She thought about which story would be best to tell him, them she remembered her favorite. "This story is about the lion who fell in love with the ram."

After she finished the story she didn't say anything else, they both laid there in silence gazing up at the stars together. After a few minutes she heard a light snore, she turned her head and saw that he had fallen asleep. As she gazed at his sleeping face she felt a warmth spreading in her chest. Since he looked so peaceful and she was so comfortable right where she was, she decided to stay just a little while longer.

 

Levy was contentedly lying in Gajeels arms when she noticed that the campfire had nearly burnt all the way down. She checked her phone and was surprised to find that it was after midnight. She sat up and looked down at Gajeel, "I'm worried about Lu and Natsu, they have been gone for two hours."

He smirked up at her, "Maybe they are busy."

She slapped his chest, "I am serious, it has been to long. We should go look for them."

Gajeel sat up, "Fine, if that's what you want shrimp."

After they gathered up the remaining stuff and put the fire out completely they headed in the direction Natsu and Lucy had walked in.

"So does bunny girl like that idiot salamander?" Gajeel asked her.

Levy contemplated his question. She really liked to tease Lucy about it because it made her so flustered, which would only be the case if she did like him. On the other hand Levy thought that her and Lucy were pretty good friends by now, so she wasn't sure why she would not just admit it. "I think she does, but she might not fully realize it."

The continued to walk on in silence until Levy remembered something, "I have been meaning to ask you this. Why do you call Lu, bunny girl?"

"Gee-Hee, because when she was bowling she was hopping around like a bunny."

Levy laughed at the memory of when they had all gone bowling, Lucy had been really terrible at the beginning, and she did have a weird technique.

After the had walked quite a ways down the beach they saw two figures asleep in the sand, as they approached Levy recognized her two friends. Natsu was lying on his back with one hand bent behind his head which Lucy's head was laying on. Lucy's body was turned sideways facing Natsu and she was nestled into his side. Her right hand was stretched onto his chest and clasped together with is left hand.

Levy felt giddy at how cute they looked, so she pulled out her cell phone.

"What are you doin?" Gajeel asked her in a loud whisper.

"I am going to take a picture so that I can show Lu how cute they are together." When the camera flashed Natsu bolted upright. Which caused Lucy to get jerked up slightly before her head crashed into the sand.

"What the hell Natsu," Lucy said as she tried to shake the sand out of her hair.

He looked backwards at her, "Sorry Lucy, something bright flashed in my eyes."

"Sorry that was my phone." Levy said

Natsu and Lucy both seemed to notice them standing there for the first time, "What are you two doing here?"

"You have been gone for two hours, so we came to look for you," Levy answered.

Lucy looked at Natsu suprised, "We must have fallen asleep for an hour and a half."

Natsu stood up and began to shake out his clothes, "Wow I am really sandy."

Lucy stood also and handed Natsu his scarf, then began to shake her own clothes off.

"Come on lets go back to the hotel and you two can clean up then go back to sleep," Levy said.

They agreed and began to head back to the hotel. About half way there Lucy asked her, "So why did you flash us with your phone?"

"I was taking a picture," Levy said with a sly smile.

Lucy's eyebrow quirked up

"I will show it to you later I think you are going to like it."


	13. Hurt and Comfort

Lucy had a relaxing Saturday morning she finished some writing for classes, but mostly lounged around reading a book. Now it was afternoon and she was getting study materials ready to go over to Levy's. A chiming from her phone interrupted her preparations and she stopped to check her message. It was a text from Levy, but its content caused her confusion, since it was just a picture of Levy's desk. Deciding she must have sent it by mistake Lucy began to reply when a pink picture frame in the middle of the desk caught her eye. Zooming in Lucy gasped when she recognized the picture as the one Levy had taken of Natsu and her sleeping together on the beach. Her face began to burn she could not believe Levy had printed and framed that picture. A loud noise caused Lucy to nearly drop her phone before she realized it was her phone ringing and answered it.

"So did you like the picture?" Levy asked as soon as Lucy answered the phone.

"I can't believe you did that!" she shrieked.

Laughing, Levy continued her harassment, "I did and I'm thinking about giving it to Natsu as a Christmas present."

"No you can't!" Lucy said her voice becoming even shriller.

"Why not?" Levy pouted, "It is such a cute picture of you two." Then with a sly voice she added, "I bet Natsu would like it."

Lucy ignored her friends teasing and thought back to when Levy had first shown her the picture last Sunday. She had made her promise not to show anyone else especially Natsu. "Because friends don't usually cuddle each other in their sleep," she gave as her reason for not wanting to show him.

Silence was her only response for a moment before Levy responded in an assured voice, "Clearly you two aren't just friends then."

Lucy sucked in a large breath ready to deny what Levy had said, but stopped as she contemplated her statement. Natsu had become one of her closest friends. Although lately their actions had led Lucy to believe that they were more than that, even though neither of them had acknowledged it. What worried her and always caused her to become flustered when others mentioned it was if she was reading more into it than he was. She didn't want to ruin their friendship by pushing her feelings onto him if he didn't feel the same way. She slowly released her breath and smiled softly realizing she could not deny what her friend had said.

"Lu, are you still there?" Levy asked worriedly

"Yeah I am. I was just thinking."

Levy sounded excited, "What were you thinking about?"

Lucy took a deep breath, "I think I might…" A loud knock on her door cut her off.

"Lucy what were you about to say?" Levy asked anxiously.

"Sorry Levy someone is at my door, but we can talk about this later when I come over to study."

"We better," Levy laughed out before she ended the call.

Lucy placed her phone down then trotted over and opened her door.

 

Natsu had slept late that morning before going out for his normal run. He knew that Lucy was supposed to be coming over; he prickled with excitement because after she studied with Levy she had promised to hang out with him, and he had not seen her outside of the coffee shop since last weekend. Upon returning to his apartment his excitement dissipated when he flung open his door and found it empty. Knowing that they were supposed to meet here twenty minutes ago and that neither Lucy nor Levy ever showed up late he decided they must have gone somewhere else. After showering he went to his room to catch up on some of his own studying, about ten minutes later he heard the front door open. Jumping off his bed he darted into the living room, but only found Gray and Erza. Sighing he turned to walk back to his room.

"Don't make that face when you see us!" Gray yelled.

"Yeah," Erza agreed, "Were you expecting someone else?"

"I thought Lucy was supposed to come over and study with Levy today?" Natsu answered.

"Of course," Gray smirked.

Erza looked at him questioningly before she answered Natsu, "She had to cancel so Levy went to Gajeel's."

Natsu's shoulders slumped, "Do you know why she canceled?"

"Yeah her father came for a visit."

Natsu felt his stomach drop at her words. By the looks on Erza and Gray's faces they clearly thought it was nice that her dad would come for a visit. Which meant that Lucy was probably suffering alone at her apartment or her father was still there. Either way Natsu knew that he needed to be with her. He grabbed his keys off the counter and dashed out the front door without another word. His sudden change must have worried Gray and Erza because he could hear them shouting and asking him what was going on all the way till he got into his car.

 

It had been five minutes since Lucy's father had left and she was still slumped against her front door. Her hands were pressed into her face, but she had managed to hold back her tears. She had been completely taken aback when she saw that is was her father at the door. Her first reaction had been to slam the door in his face, but her body seemed to be frozen. She was even more surprised when he immediately began apologizing for the way he had acted last time. He told her that he came just to talk with her then asked if he could come inside. Their discussion had started off well and Lucy felt herself warming up to him for the first time in years. Then after twenty minutes of pleasant conversation Jude brought up the arranged marriage. Lucy wanted him to understand that she could not marry someone that she didn't know or love, but her father countered that they didn't have to get married right away they could get to know each other first. Lucy tried her best to maintain the first civil conversation they had in years, but by the end Lucy was shouting and Jude had angrily marched to her front door. Right before he slammed the door he had turned to her and hissed that she was dishonoring her mothers memories by not doing her part for the company they had created together. His words had cut her deep. Now Lucy just felt empty and cold as she pondered if her actions really would have caused her mother pain, if she were still alive.

A sudden knock on her door tore her from her thoughts and sent a wave of dread through her body. Her father must have come back. Lucy slowly stood and looked out her peephole fully expecting to see her father standing outside. Instead she was surprised again at whom she found she opened the door to expose a worried looking Natsu. He rushed through the door to her and raised his arms up like he was going to embrace her; his sudden movements caused Lucy to take a step back. He noticed her reaction and halted just before he reached her. He studied her face for a second before he stepped back and dropped his arms to his sides.

"I heard your father was here", he said as his eyes scanned the room.

"He was, but he already left," she answered him with a lifeless voice.

His eyes snapped back to hers and he searched her face again, "Are you alright?"

She wanted to harshly laugh at his question, but upon seeing the tender concern in his eyes she held it back. "Did you come all the way out here because you heard my dad came by?"

He seemed surprised by her question, "Of course. I know last time you said you were glad that I was here." He cast his eyes away sheepishly, "and I didn't want you to be alone this time either."

She felt her heart begin to flutter with warmth at the thought that he had come over just to make sure she was alright.

At Lucy's silence Natsu looked more and more bashful, "I know you don't need my help, and that you can do things for yourself. I just thought maybe you would want me here." He reached his hand up, rubbed the back of his neck, and mumbled, "That seems stupid now."

She felt the warmth begin to spread and the anger and hurt from her father's words begin to dispel. She shook her head trying to clear her remaining negative emotions.

Taking her movement the wrong way Natsu began to step away from her, "Sorry, I really shouldn't have rushed over here thinking that you need me."

Realizing Natsu had misunderstood she tried to think of the words to express the gratitude she felt towards him, but couldn't. A sudden impulse struck her and her heart began to pound in her chest. Casting all thoughts aside Lucy stepped forward and grabbed two fistfuls of his shirt. She saw his eyes widened in surprise before she pulled him down and pressed her lips into his.

Lucy felt totally blissful until she realized that Natsu had stiffened under her grasp. She immediately released her hold on him and stepped away. His eyes were still wide in shock and he was standing there like a statue. Reality crashed down on her; she could not believe she had done that. Just earlier in the day she had decided that even though she liked him she was not going to act on it, but her current emotions had gotten the better of her. Lucy felt her face flame red, " I am so sorry. I didn't mean to do that."

Natsu blinked slowly a few times as he seemed to come back to himself. His eyes focused and locked with hers, they shared a heated stare for a brief moment. Then he quickly crossed the short distance to her and wrapped one arm around her waist and pulled her against his chest. His other hand gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before he bent down and kissed her.

Lucy was shocked by his sudden action, but her eyes quickly fluttered shut and she melted into his kiss. Her arms wound around his neck and she pulled their chest firmly together. Taking this as a good sign Natsu tilted his head and deepened their kiss. They stayed wrapped in each other's arms both not wanting the moment to end.

The sound of a loud gasp caused Lucy to jump backwards out of Natsu's embrace with a squeak. She turned towards the direction of the sound and found Gray and Erza standing in her still open front door. Both of their mouths had formed perfectly rounded 'O'. "Wh-what are you two doing here?" Lucy asked.

Erza's face was the same color as her hair. Her mouth was moving, but she seemed unable to produce words.

Gray gave her a quick glance before he answered, "When we mentioned that your father had come for a visit Natsu started acting super weird, and jumped in his car. We were worried that something had happened to you so we came to check." Gray then smirked at them, "But it seems that you are perfectly fine."

Blushing, Lucy looked over at Natsu. "Yeah, everything is fine, so you two can go now," he said as he began to shove Gray back out the door.

Erza recovered from her shock and stepped forward, "Then why did you rush over here all of the sudden when we mentioned her father?"

Lucy gazed between the two and smiled softly. She was thankful that she had so many friends that cared so much for her. "Thank you so much for worrying about me. I promise I will tell you about it."

"Just not right now," Natsu quickly added.

"Why the hell not we came all the way out here," Gray demanded

"We can wait, as long as Lucy is fine now," Erza slightly questioned.

Lucy nodded.

Erza reached forward and grabbed Gray's shirt, "Then we will leave you two alone." She then proceeded to pull Gray out the door and gave a little wave before she shut it behind them.

Once they were gone Lucy turned to face Natsu and found him staring at her. She felt suddenly shy at being left alone with him after what had just happened. She bit her bottom lip and glanced up through her eyelashes at him. He began to lean towards her and Lucy thought he was going to kiss her again, so she instinctually closed her eyes. Instead she felt him place his forehead against hers, and lift his hand up to softly caress her face. She found the gesture very comforting.

They stood like that for a little while before he asked, "How did the visit with your father go?"

She took a deep breath and stepped back so that she could look at him in the eyes. "Not good," she sighed.

Natsu reached out and grabbed her hand, "If you want you can talk to me about it."

She nodded and they walked hand in hand to the couch. They sat down next to each other and he wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Lucy easily relaxed into him and began to recount her conversation with her father. When she got to the part when her father told her that he still expected her to go through with the arranged marriage Lucy felt Natsu's grip on her tighten. "I just don't understand why he seems to be pushing the marriage right now, I'm only eighteen!"

"How does you getting married affect the company anyways?" Natsu questioned her, clearly confused.

"The man my father picked is the son of a successful business owner, and if we get married the two companies will also join. Then once my father retires he will become the new head of the Heartfilia Corporation," she explained.

Natsu tilted his head to the side and seemed to be thinking, "Why cant you just be in charge?"

Lucy let out a short laugh, "First of all I have no idea how to run a large corporation, but more importantly I don't want to."

This did not seem to help Natsu's confusion, "If you don't want to marry that guy and you don't want to run the company. Then why is your father trying to make you?"

She cast her eyes down and considered this, "He says he is doing this for the families future, if the company continues to do well then I, my children, and even their children will never have to worry about money. Which I can understand would be a good thing, but I just wish I didn't have to be unhappy for that to be possible. There has to be some other way."

Natsu moved his free hand up to his forehead and began to rub circles, "All of this business talk is so confusing."

Lucy turned to face him and giggled at his cute confused face. She leaned forward and placed a kiss on his forehead. When she leaned back his eyebrows were raised and she blushed at her own bold actions. He pulled her in closer and she rested her head in the crook of his neck. She sat contentedly in his arms until she remembered the last thing her father had said to her.

Natsu must have felt her change in posture and asked, "What's wrong?"

"I just thought about something my father said today."

Seeming to sense that is was something bad Natsu barely whispered out, "What did he say?"

Hoping she would not become upset again she took a beep breath, "He told me that I was dishonoring my mothers memories by not doing my duty for the company."

Natsu inhaled sharply then pushed her back so that he could look into her eyes. He looked outraged, "That's terrible! How could he say something like that to you?"

Shrugging her shoulders Lucy answered dejectedly, "My mother and him built the company together and if I don't accept the arranged marriage then another company will take control of it."

Natsu gripped her shoulders tighter and fiercely shook his head, "No, I am sure your mother would have wanted you to be happy above all else." He pulled her against his chest, "Your father just seems to have lost sight of what is truly important."

Lucy felt tears well up in her eyes, but wiped them away before they could spill over. "Thank you Natsu."

They sat in comfortable silence for a while, then Lucy asked, "Would you like to watch a movie or something? Since we were supposed to hang out today."

Natsu agreed and Lucy turned on the TV they spent most of the day cuddled on her couch watching movies and playing games.

It was late now and they were standing at Lucy's door saying goodbye. Natsu turned to walk to his car, but quickly turned back to face her with a determined look on his face, "Would you like to go on a date with me?"

Lucy felt a huge smile spread across her face and she began to nod her head excitedly, "Yes!"

"How about next weekend?"

She continued to nod her head, "Sounds perfect!"

Natsu bent down and gave her a quick peck on the lips then turned to walk to his car. Halfway there he looked back over his shoulder and gave her his signature grin, "Goodnight Lucy."

"Goodnight Natsu."


	14. The Date

"What about this one?" Levy asked holding up another one of Lucy's dresses for her to inspect.

Lucy turned from her mirror where she was examining the current outfit she had on to look at Levy who was holding up a flowy white cotton dress. "I think it might be to casual," she said with a pout and turned back to the mirror.

Levy had come over an hour ago to help Lucy get ready for her first date with Natsu. They had already finished her hair and makeup, but Lucy could not decide what to wear. The two girls had practically dragged her entire closet out onto her bedroom floor.

She heard a loud gasp from Levy who was digging through the clothes that were left in her closet. She finally pulled something off a hanger, "I just found this in the very back. It still has the tags on it." She turned and held up a light blue strapless dress with a white bow on the front.

Lucy stepped forward and took the dress from Levy, "I forgot I had this." She remembered she had seen it in a shop window when she had been looking for a job that summer and thought it had been so cute. After finding the job at the coffee shop and working for a few weeks she had gone back and bought the dress, but it had gotten pushed to the back of her closet since she never had anywhere to wear it to.

"I think it will be perfect for tonight. You should go try it on," Levy insisted.

Nodding Lucy went into her bathroom to change. Once she got the dress on she walked back into her bedroom where Levy had started to put her clothes back in the closet.

When Levy finally looked up a huge smile covered her face and she clasped her hands together, "You look really cute Lu, Natsu is so lucky."

Lucy raised her hands to her cheeks hoping to cover her blush from her friend, "You are so sweet Levy."

Levy turned and grabbed a pair of heels off the floor, "These will go perfect with that dress."

Lucy pulled on the strappy heels and scrutinized herself in her floor-length mirror. Just like she had been doing all night she began worry if this really was the perfect outfit, "Are you sure this dress isn't to small or to blue?"

Levy let out a laugh, "If you are worried about being cold just wear a jacket, and to blue isn't a thing. Don't worry Natsu will love this dress. Plus you are running out of time"

Looking at the clock on her nightstand Lucy started to feel a little panicky when she realized she only had ten minutes before he got there.

"I better go. I don't want to still be here when Natsu gets here," Levy said as she began to gather her things. They walked together to Lucy's front door, "I am so happy for you two. I wish you luck." Levy stepped forward and wrapped Lucy in a hug, she then turned her head and whispered in her ear, "You're gonna need it."

Before Lucy could ask her what that meant Levy walked out the door and shut it behind her. Which left Lucy blinking at her front door in confusion. She tried to figure out what Levy could have meant, then realized she did not have time for that now. She returned to her bedroom to finish getting ready.

She had just finished hanging a necklace around her neck when she heard a knock at the door. She checked herself once more in the mirror before she walked into her living room and opened the door. Outside she found Natsu wearing dark jeans, an un-tucked pink dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to just below his elbows, and his usual scarf. His shirt fit tight across his chest and arms and Lucy could easily imagine the muscles that were hidden underneath.

Realizing she had been staring and neither had said anything her eyes flicked up to his face. Her cheeks reddened when she saw that his eyes were also scanning her body. Hoping to draw his attention upwards she greeted him, "Hello Natsu."

His head snapped up and his wide eyes meet hers, "Hey Lucy." A faint blush began to color his cheeks, "You look very nice."

Lucy felt her own blush deepen, she was pretty sure that was the first time Natsu had ever complimented her appearance, "Thank you. You look very nice also."

Natsu seemed to regain his composure as he smoothed a hand down his shirt, "Thanks. Actually Erza made me buy this earlier, she said nothing I owned was nice enough to wear for our date."

Turning to hide a small laughing smile Lucy grabbed her jacket and purse, "So Erza helped pick out your outfit" Then another thought occurred to her, "Did she help with anything else?"

Natsu took a step away from the door so that Lucy could walk through and lock it behind her, "Yeah once I told her about the date she got really excited and wanted to know what my plans were. When I got about half way through she stopped me and told me she was taking over."

Lucy let out a laugh curious as to what Natsu had originally planned, "So Erza planned our date."

Natsu nodded his head, "She picked the restaurant, I have never even heard of it. Also her and Lisanna gave me a bunch of pointers."

"Oh really like what?" Lucy asked as they began to walk to his car.

He thought for a moment before he answered, "Like I should open doors for you, give you my jacket if you get cold, and tell you that you look nice."

The last one caused Lucy to stop walking and her smile begin to fade.

Natsu stopped also; he twisted around to face her with a concerned look, "Is something wrong?"

Almost at a whisper she asked, "So you only told me I look nice because they told you to?"

His eyes went wide and he began to shake his head and hands simultaneously, "No, I mean yeah they told me too, but only because I wouldn't have said it otherwise."

Lucy felt her shoulders slump and her mood begin to deteriorate.

"Shit," he spat out, "That's not what I meant." He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, "I am trying to say that I always think you look beautiful, but I just never say it out loud."

She felt her eyes widen and her head snapped up so that she was looking at him in they eyes, "Really?" She asked as her heart began to pound.

"Of course," Natsu beamed as he walked forward and took her hand. They stood there for a moment just staring into each other's eyes, before Natsu turned and started pulling her towards the car. "Now come on I'm hungry."

As Natsu drove they comfortably chitchatted like they always did, Lucy had been worried that the pressure of a date might make things awkward. She should have known that nothing with Natsu could ever be awkward. After a while of driving Lucy looked out her window and saw that they were in the uptown shopping district of Magnolia. She had just begun to worry about what kind of place Erza had picked when Natsu pulled his car up to one of the cities nicest restaurants.

Once they had come to a complete stop Natsu turned off the engine and got out of the car. He walked around to the other side and opened up Lucy's door. She looked up at him quizzically, "Are you sure this is the place?"

Natsu looked up at the name on the building and nodded his head, "Yep, I'm still not sure what it's called, but this is definitely the place Erza picked." He then held his hand out to help her out of the car.

After helping her out of the car Natsu handed his keys to the bewildered looking valet attendant. Lucy could imagine they had never had anything quite like his car at their restaurant before. They then walked hand in hand up to the door where Natsu once again opened it for her. Inside they were greeted by the hostess who gave them a welcoming smile, "Hello and welcome to Cheval Ailé Bleu do you have a reservation?"

Lucy looked expectantly at Natsu who just looked confused, "A what?"

Lucy had to refrain from slamming her palm into her face, how could Erza have not thought of that. "Natsu places like this usually are full on the weekends so you have to call ahead and reserve a table," she explained as the hostess nodded in agreement.

Understanding dawned on Natsu's face, "Oh right, Erza did that earlier."

At the mention of Erza's name the hostess's face blanched, "You are the friends of Miss Scarlett?"

Lucy gave the hostess a curious look, but Natsu looked excited, "You know Erza?"

The hostess shook her head, "I just meet hear earlier this week when she came by and made a reservation, amongst other things."

Although the hostess had mumbled out the last part Lucy had still caught it and it reminded her of what Levy had said earlier. Which caused her confusion to grow to mild concern.

"If you follow me I will take you to your table," the hostess said as she grabbed two menus.

They were led up the stairs to a table in front of a large window. "I can also take your jacket if you want me to miss?" Lucy quickly shrugged off her jacket and handed it to her. "Your waiter will be with you shortly, I hope you enjoy your first date," the hostess said with a warm smile before turning and walking away.

Lucy only realized after the hostess was gone that she had known it was their first date. Deciding that Erza must have told her, Lucy's attention was caught by the view from their table. The sky was dark, but the bright glittering lights from the shop windows lit up the city in a dazzling way. "The view is wonderful," she said as she continued to take in the scenery.

"It is," Natsu agreed.

She looked across the table at Natsu and found that he had been gazing at her the whole time. Trying to hide the blush forming on her cheeks she quickly picked up her menu and hid her face behind it. Once her eyes had focused they bulged at the prices listed on the menu. Although this was not the most expensive place she had ever been to it was pretty high end.

"Did Erza tell you anything about the restaurant besides the name?" She asked Natsu wondering if he knew about this before he walked in the door. By the sudden gasp she heard from him when he opened his menu, she took that as a no.

Once he seemed to recover from his shock he looked over his menu at her, "The only thing she told me was that you would definitely like this place."

Wondering what is was about this place that Erza knew she would definitely like Lucy went back to perusing the menu.

The waiter soon arrived, "Hello my name is Hibiki and I will be your waiter for the evening." His eyes landed on Lucy and stayed there for a bit to long before turning towards Natsu "May I say you have a very beautiful date."

Not seeming to notice that he had made them uncomfortable he continued, "What may I get you to drink?"

Natsu and Lucy simultaneously blurted out, "Water."

After Hibiki left to retrieve their drinks Natsu let out a long sigh.

"What's wrong?" Lucy asked worriedly

Natsu gestured erratically at the menu, "I don't know what any of this stuff is. I mean who would want to eat something called Foey Grass?"

Lucy gave a lit chuckle at his attempt, "I think you mean Foie Gras and it's pretty popular. This is a French restaurant so they listed many of the names in French, but it is pretty normal food. I can go through and explain what they are if you want me too."

Natsu gladly agreed so they started going through the menu together with Lucy answering any questions he had. Soon they had received their drinks and placed their orders; Natsu ordered beef bourguignon and Lucy ordered crepe Florentine.

They happily chatted until Hibiki brought out their meals and placed them down on the table, Lucy watched as Natsu's eyes widened at the artfully crafted plates. His vegetables were cleverly placed atop his beef medallion which was lain on a bed of potatoes, and her sauce had been drizzled in the shape of a blossoming flower.

After Hibiki left Natsu was still staring at his plate. He opened his mouth and Lucy thought he was going to comment on the plating, but instead he said, "It's so small." Lucy's mouth dropped open, of course what had him mesmerized had been the size of his food.

Once their plates had been cleared Hibiki returned to their table but this time he had two other waiters in tow. "I hope you enjoyed your meals. Now in order to commemorate your first date we will perform a song."

Lucy started to laugh thinking that Hibiki was making a joke, since this was not the kind of restaurant where the waiters sang, but when all three launched into a song Lucy felt her face begin to drain of color. When the choreographed dancing started Lucy's head whipped around to look at Natsu, but he looked equally as surprised if not mildly entertained. Noticing the restaurant had become quiet apart from the singing she looked around and saw that all of the other customers had stopped eating and where now watching the spectacle.

Lucy could not believe this was happening, her mind was to frazzled to think clearly. All she could focus on was how the lyrics were way to specific to Natsu and her for them to have been random, which meant someone they knew set this up. She was pulled out of these thoughts by the sudden appearance of a very short man with orange hair pushing a large cart towards their table.

The song finally ended and Lucy thought the humiliation was over until the other two waiters held up a large hand-made sign that read 'Congratulations Natsu and Lucy' and Hibiki started shooting streamers. Once Natsu and she were fully covered in glitter and tiny pieces of tissue paper the short man uncovered the cart and exposed a ridiculously large cake. At the sight of that strawberry covered cake everything clicked into place; Erza was behind this.

Lucy was not sure what insanity had taken hold of Erza and caused her to think this would be a good idea. All she knew was that the next time she saw the redhead she would be the one getting the 'talking to'.

She must have been giving off a murderous vibe because the waiters cut Natsu and her each a slice of cake then quickly retreated. Noticing that Natsu had already started to eat his cake, Lucy picked up her fork and took a bite. She had to admit that the cake was very good, but it definitely wasn't going to get Erza off the hook. After finishing their slices of cake and paying the bill they started to make their way to the front, but were stopped by many of the other customers to congratulate them on their first date.

When they finally reached the entryway the hostess greeted them again, "I hope you enjoyed your visit and will be back again soon. Oh and here are your leftovers."

Lucy wondered what the hostess meant by leftovers, since they had finished all their food, until she saw the huge cake box.

"We get to take all this?" Natsu asked excitedly.

Nodding the hostess answered, "Of course, Miss Scarlett made it specifically for you." She then twirled around and grabbed Lucy's jacket from the coat rack, "And here is your jacket Ms. Heartfilia."

They thanked the hostess then strolled out to the valet attendant. Once the car arrived and the cake had been secured in the backseat, they started their trek back to Lucy's apartment. They didn't talk much on the way and Lucy spent much of the time fantasizing about punishments for Erza. She was so focused on her thoughts that she was surprised when Natsu pulled into her parking lot. Natsu opened his car door and got out and Lucy followed suit, they then walked together to her door in silence.

When they reached her door Lucy turned to face Natsu and was trouble by the look on his face. She began to ask, "What's wrong…"

Before she could finish her sentence Natsu cut her off, "I'm sorry about the date."

Lucy's eyebrows rose in momentary surprise before smiled softly at him, so that's what had been bothering him, "You don't need to be sorry, I had a lovely time with you. Yeah I could have done without the song and dance, but I'm not going to let it overshadow the rest of the date."

Natsu visibly relaxed, "So you will go out with me again?"

Lucy's smile brightened, "Of course."

"Awesome," he cheered. "There is this thing I want to take you to next Saturday, if you want to go?"

A warm feeling began to bubble up in her chest. Wanting to express that feeling Lucy wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down to her lips. At first he seemed to have been caught off guard but he quickly deepened their kiss.

When they finally broke apart Lucy kept her arms wound around his neck and they leaned their foreheads against each other. They stayed this way for a while just enjoying the warmth of each other before Lucy answered Natsu's question, "I would love to go with you next weekend." She then reluctantly released him and took a step back to her door.

"I'm looking forward to it," Natsu said with a wave as he began to walk towards his car.

"Me too," she said as she waved back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cheval Ailé Bleu means Winged Horse in French - A.K.A. Blue Pegasus  
> The other waiters were Ren, Eve, and Ichiya. Jenny was the hostess.


	15. Impromptu Visits, Plans, and Galaxies

It was the morning after Lucy and Natsu's first date, and Lucy had just gotten out of bed when she heard a light tapping on her door. Curious as to who would be paying her a visit so early on a Sunday she put down her tea cup and went to her door. Peeping out her peephole she saw Levy waving excitedly on the other side.

Happy to see her best friend standing outside she flung open her door and was immediately surprised when she saw that Levy was not alone. Standing behind her just out of sight of the peephole were Mira, Lisanna, Cana, and even Juvia; but it was the bright red hair at the back of the group that grabbed Lucy's attention. The embarrassment of last night came flooding back and it caused her mind to fog over in fury. Quickly striding forward she pointed an accusatory finger at Erza, "You"

Erza's eye's widened in alarm at Lucy's ferocious stare, "Me?"

"Yes you," Lucy said incredulously. "How could you have done that to us last night?"

Erza stared at her with a perplexed expression. "You mean the cake?" She said as she lifted up her hands and Lucy noticed the familiar box she was holding.

"Not just the cake," Lucy said harshly.

"Erza you didn't," Lucy heard a voice from behind her say.

She looked over her shoulder and saw that both Mirajane and Lisanna had equally bemused expressions.

"I just did what we had talked about," Erza tried to explain.

Mira brought her hands to her cheeks and gave her a rueful expression, "We were joking, I thought you realized that."

Erza's eyes bulged out and her mouth rounded into an O

"What the hell are you guys talking about?" Cana asked.

"Yeah," Levy agreed, "I am so confused right now."

"Juvia also," Juvia chimed in.

"Oh I will tell you all about it," Lucy said sassily. "But first lets go inside."

The girls all filed into the apartment and Lucy told them the story of her first date with Natsu.

When she was done Levy, Cana, and Juvia were staring open mouthed at Erza who was spluttering about how she didn't know it had been a joke, while Lisanna and Mira were shaking their heads in perfect unison at her misunderstanding. Lucy however had started to find the whole thing funny and was doing all she could to not laugh. How many other people could say their friend wrote a whole song and baked a three-tier cake for their first date. When Erza suddenly dropped to her knees asking her for punishment for the humiliation she caused, Lucy lost it. She had to force her hands over mouth to keep from laughing out loud, but she still bent over and shook in silent laughter.

"Lu are you alright?" Levy asked her worriedly.

Lucy tried to respond but couldn't stop laughing; she only managed to flap a hand at her.

"Look what you did Erza, you broke Lucy," Cana exclaimed.

After she composed herself enough to speak she finally responded, "I'm fine. It's just that date is actually going to be really memorable."

The room became deafly silent. Lucy looked up at all the girls who were staring at her with surprised expressions and for a moment she thought that they thought she was weird for thinking such a date could be counted as memorable in a good way. Then all at once they burst out laughing.

Lucy joined in on the laughter again and she laughed till her sides hurt. Once all the girls could talk again Erza suggested that they have a piece of cake. They then spent the next few hours happily chatting about Lucy's date, the other girl's love lives, school and work.

 

Lucy sat waiting with two coffees at their table by the window. It was Thursday around nine in the morning and Natsu was going to be meeting her soon, so they could plan their date for that Saturday together. Lucy knew that Natsu had and idea in mind, but all week he had been vague about what it was. The bell above the door tinkled and Lucy looked up to see Natsu energetically waving at her

"Hello Natsu," she greeted once he reached the table.

He sat down and took his coffee, "Thanks for the coffee."

Eager to find out what he was planning she started right in, "So what are we going to do on Saturday?"

He tsked and shook a finger at her, "I can't tell you it's a surprise. All I will say is that is starts at seven and doesn't involve food."

Lucy could feel the anticipation welling up inside of her she couldn't wait to find out what surprise he had in mind for her. It also worked out because she had thought up some plans of her own, "I actually have a surprise idea of my own, but mine involves food. Why don't you meet me at my apartment around five on Saturday."

Natsu agreed and they talked for a few more minutes before her break ended and she went back to work.

 

It was exactly five o'clock on Saturday when Natsu pulled into Lucy's parking lot. He strode over to her door, and banged loudly on it. She opened it and the sight of her made his heart begin to pound in his chest. Her face was a little flushed, her hair was pulled up in a messy bun on top of her head, and her eyes were alight with excitement. Overall she looked incredibly cute; the kind of cute that made him want to pull her into his chest and kiss her for hours.

"Hey Natsu," she greeted him with a bright smile. "Come in, I am just finishing up."

He swallowed hard and nodded as he stepped into her apartment and watched as she headed to her kitchen. He followed her and was surprised to find her shoving food containers into a picnic basket. "Are we going on a picnic?"

She nodded her head as she closed the lid on the basket and swiveled to face him, "Levy told me that Magnolia Park was beautiful this time of year and perfect for dates after her and Gajeel went on one there. So I thought it would be nice if we could go together also."

Natsu remembered overhearing Levy talking to Lisanna about that date, but that had been about two months ago. He wondered if she had thought about going with him then, or if this was something she had remembered recently. Resigning himself to not knowing he trotted forward and grabbed the picnic baskets off the counter, "That does sound like fun." He then quickly spun around headed for the door, "Lets go."

He heard Lucy chuckle, then her footsteps hurry out of her kitchen behind him, "Let me just grab a blanket and we can."

Once they packed the blanket and the basket in the car they headed for Magnolia Park. On the drive Lucy told him about their friends impromptu visit last Sunday, and how Erza had begged on her knees for forgiveness; which he would have paid a large sum of money to see. As she talked about it he realized that she wasn't embarrassed by what had happened anymore and seemed to even be pleased with how the night turned out. Which made Natsu extremely happy, he hadn't wanted her to look back on their first date with un-fond memories.

A short time later they had reached the park and Lucy had plotted out the perfect spot their picnic. Natsu watched in amazement as Lucy pulled out container after container of food. "Did you make all of this?" he asked once she reached the bottom of the basket.

She looked up at him sheepishly, "Yes, I guess I got a little carried away once I began to look up recipes. I just wanted to try so many of them that I couldn't stop myself."

Natsu barked out a laugh, "Don't worry this is awesome!" He picked up a container and pulled open the lid. Inside he found little ham and cheese sandwiches that had been cut into heart shapes. "I can't wait to try everything," he said as he popped one into his mouth.

Lucy beamed up at him then began to open up the rest of the containers. Natsu found that she had made quite the variety of finger foods and he really was excited to try all of them.

Once they were both completely stuffed they decided to walk around the park and admire the fall flowers. Well Lucy was looking at the flowers; Natsu was just enjoying strolling hand in hand and talking with her. After going through much of the park Natsu checked his phone and found that it had already been an hour and a half, "We better get going if we are going to make it on time."

Lucy gave him a smirk, "Are you finally going to tell me where we are going?"

Natsu began pulling her by the hand in the direction of his car, "Nope you are going to have to wait a little bit longer."

They repacked the car and set out again for their next destination. As Natsu drove further towards the edge of the city Lucy began to look more antsy and finally asked, "Are we leaving Magnolia?"

"Yep," was all he gave as an answer.

He continued to drive up into the small mountain range outside of Magnolia. Once they wound their way up the tallest one they reached a complex of buildings with a sign that read 'Magnolia State University Observatory'.

He heard Lucy take a sharp intake of breath. "An observatory," she exclaimed.

Natsu parked the car and looked over at her, she was glowing with excitement and looking around at the large telescopes that were now in view. She turned back to him and latched onto his arm with both hands and squeezed hard, "I didn't even know the school had an observatory."

Natsu couldn't help but smile at how excited she was, "I heard some people in one of my classes talking about it. It's used for research but every weekend they open it up for the general public."

Lucy was now looking back and forth between the telescopes and Natsu her attention seemingly torn between the two. Finally she turned her full attention on him and gently cupped his face between her hands. "This is amazing," she said as she leaned over and kissed him. After a few seconds she pulled back and hopped out of the car.

Natsu sat there in shock for a moment before he regained his composure and followed her out of the car. He had to run to catch up to her since she had already started to make her way over to the group of people that were forming for the tour.

The first part of their tour would start with an informational talk about the solar system, constellations, and what they would be viewing. Lucy and Natsu stood on the outskirts of the group and listened as their guide started. Once the guide finished his talk Lucy grabbed Natsu's hand and began to rush off to the telescopes. As they traveled from telescope to telescope viewing stars, nebulas, galaxies and even black holes Natsu felt his heart swelling at the look of pure joy on Lucy's face, and the fact that he had been the one to put it there. After the tour was over and they had seen all there was to see, more than once, they began to head back to Lucy's apartment.

As he drove he listened to Lucy talk animatedly about everything they got to see; which brought a bright grin to his face.

When they reached her apartment they got out of the car and he walked her up to the door. She placed her picnic basket and blanket on the ground while she dug her keys out of her purse. Once she unlocked her door she turned back around to face him. Her excited smile from earlier had softened into one of fondness, "I had a lot of fun tonight."

Natsu felt his heart begin to pound at the sight of her for the second time that night, "Me too."

She looked like she was about to say goodnight, but Natsu couldn't let her just yet. He had a need to ask her something building up in his chest all night. So he stepped closer to her, so close he could feel her breath fanning against his face. Her eyes widened at his sudden movement, but she didn't move away from him. His voice came out deep and vibrated in his chest, "Lucy can I ask you a question?"

Her expression morphed from surprise to curiosity as she gave a nod of the head. "Of course," she said in a breathy response.

Gaining the rest of the courage he needed he looked deeply into her eyes and asked, "Will you be my girlfriend?"

She never broke eye contact but he did notice her mouth form into a little surprised 'o' before she smiled brightly, "Yes Natsu."

His heart almost burst with excitement and accomplishment. His soaring emotions caused him to bend down and capture her lips in a soft kiss. Expecting it to be short he began to pull back until he felt Lucy's hands wrap around his neck and pull him harder against her lips to deepen the kiss. Her ferocity sparked something inside Natsu as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her body flush against his.

They stood there kissing and enjoying their newly formed relationship for a few minutes until they broke apart panting. Natsu placed a few short sweet kisses on her lips and forehead before he completely stepped back. He looked down into her chocolate eyes and found it hard to believe that this beautiful woman was now his girlfriend.

"I guess I should be heading home now," he said reluctantly.

Lucy nodded her head, "Yeah it is pretty late now."

"I will see you later then, Goodnight Lucy."

"Goodnight Natsu."


	16. Happy

The trees outside Lucy's apartment were almost completely bare, peppermint flavor was starting to be replace pumpkin spice, and some stores were already blaring out Christmas music. All signifying that fall was coming to a close and that winter was upon them. This morning had started out dreary and only got worse as a cold rain began to fall. Knowing that the rain was not going to let up Lucy decided to spend her Saturday curled up on her sofa reading. Hours had passed when a bright flash of lightening and a loud crackle of thunder nearly scared her off her sofa. After calming her frazzled nerves she looked at her clock and was surprised to find that she had been so caught up in her book that it was already late evening. Deciding she had nothing better to do she was just about to return to her book her stomach rumbled nearly matching the intensity of the thunder. Realizing that she hadn't eaten since breakfast she quickly threw together a decent meal of spaghetti and returned to her sofa. An hour later she was cleaning up the kitchen and putting away her leftovers when a pounding came from her door.

The urgency of the pounding caused Lucy to rush to the door, she was just about to check the peephole when a familiar voice called to her from outside. She opened up the door to find her boyfriend of a few weeks standing outside soaked. His tee shirt and jeans her were stuck to his body, his hair was flat on his head, and in his arms he was protectively holding a bundled up jacket.

"Natsu what are you doing out in this storm?" She asked just as another flash of lightening illuminated the sky and the ensuing crack of thunder caused Natsu to leap into her apartment.

Once he was out of the doorway Lucy stepped forward and closed the door trying keep more rain from drenching her carpet. When she turned around she found Natsu hurrying across her living room towards the bathroom. She also saw wet spots left in his wake, since he hadn't even bothered to remove his shoes. Annoyed that he had just made a mess and hadn't even said anything to her, she furrowed her brow and stomped into the bathroom.

"NATSU what the hell are you doing," she screeched as she rounded the corner. But what she saw caused her to pause out of curiosity. He was crouched over one her towels and murmuring softly to it.

After a few more murmurs to the towel he turned his head and looked up at her with a silly grin, "Hey Lucy, thanks for letting us in."

Caught off guard by his current weirdness Lucy stuttered out a reply, "A of-of course, but what were you doing out in the first place, and what are you doing now?"

Natsu returned his gaze to the towel, "I was bored so I decided to come see what you were doing when I saw this little guy running in the streets."

Lucy was really starting to worry about Natsu's mental health until the towel began to stir. She gasped in surprise when a tiny wet kitten popped out. "Natsu! Where did you get that?" she yelled.

The kitten cowered at the loud sound and Natsu instinctively reached his hands out to comfort it. "Lucy you're too loud. Look you scared the kitten," he said as he continued to sooth it. He then twisted his head back to look at her again, "And I told you I found it running around in the street."

Lucy stared blankly at him for a moment before responding, "Okay, but why did you pick it up and bring it here?"

Natsu twisted around and sat down on her bathroom floor with his back leaning against her cabinets. Then picked the kitten up and sat it in his lap, "I couldn't just leave it in the rain." He began petting the kitten's head as it curled up and began purring, "And I was already on my way here when I found it." Under his breath Natsu added, "Plus my apartment doesn't allow pets."

Lucy had a sinking feeling that she knew where this conversation was going. So she decided to sit down beside Natsu. "If your apartment doesn't allow pets what are you planning on doing with it?" She asked in a calm voice.

Natsu's head lifted up and he looked her strait in the eyes, "When I picked him up I wasn't really thinking about that, but I couldn't leave him out there alone."

Lucy's heart clenched at how sweet his actions were even if he wasn't thinking about the consequences, but he hadn't answered her question, "And what about now? Are you going to take him to a shelter?"

Natsu's eyes widened and Lucy saw the corners of his lips begin to pull down before he averted his face down towards the kitten. They sat for a while in silence both watching the sleeping cat curled up and purring in Natsu's lap before he finally answered her in a whisper, "Can't we keep him here?"

Finally he had asked her what she knew had been coming since she saw the kitten. She took a deep breath and released it very slowly, "So you pick up a stray cat and now I have to take care of it?"

Natsu jerked his head towards her, "Of course not. I will take care of it and buy it food and toys." He looked back down at the kitten, "He will just have to live here."

She knew that Natsu was caring enough to take care of a cat she just hoped he was responsible enough to follow through with all the work, "Okay but you have to feed cats twice a day, and change their litter a lot or else it will start to stink. How are you going to do that?"

He thought for a moment, "Well I guess I wont be able to feed him all the time, but I promise to come by and change his litter when it starts to smell bad."

Knowing that she couldn't refuse without hurting Natsu she narrowed her eyes and held out her hand towards him, "Before it starts to stink."

Natsu seemed confused by her actions at first then realization dawned on him and he stuck out his hand and shook Lucy's as he said, "Before it stinks." He suddenly jumped up and the poor kitten looked terrified as it flew through the air before Natsu reached out and caught it, "Did you hear that little buddy? Lucy said you get to stay!"

Lucy watched with a smile as Natsu danced around her bathroom with a flustered cat, before she stood up also. "We should probably feed it, but I don't think we should go back out in the storm tonight."

Natsu stopped dancing and looked at her, "Then what do you think we should do?"

Lucy put her hands on her hips and closed her eyes, "I think I have a can of fish that he should be able to eat."

Natsu bounced the kitten up in the air, "Did you hear that? Fish!"

Shaking her head at how overly excited Natsu was she turned and walked to her kitchen. She found the can of fish and poured it and some water into little bowls, so that the kitten could easily eat and drink.

Natsu placed the kitten down on the ground beside the bowls and went to stand behind Lucy wrapping his arms tightly around her waist. There was a comfortable silence about her apartment as they watched the kitten happily eating until it was interrupted by a loud growling coming from Natsu's stomach. Lucy tilted her head up towards him, "Have you not eaten?"

"I ate earlier, but watching him eat makes me hungry too," he replied as he stepped back from her and began to rub his belly.

Lucy laughed knowing that Natsu had a bottomless pit of a stomach, "I just had spaghetti and I still have some if you want that?"

Natsu eagerly nodded his head. As she turned to walk into her kitchen she caught a glimpse of the wet spots still soaking her carpet from Natsu's shoes. She looked back at him and frowned, "I will make you my leftovers, but you have to dry off my carpet."

Natsu pivoted around and seemed to notice for the first time that he had left little puddles all over her living room, he blushed before quickly grabbing a towel.

Once she finished reheating her leftovers and Natsu finished drying off her floor, she sat his plate down on her dining table and took a seat beside him. The kitten had finished eating and was now exploring her apartment. When a question suddenly struck Lucy, "So what are you going to name him?"

Natsu finished slurping up a noodle before tilting his head to the side as he pondered her question for a moment. After a little while a bright grin came over his face, "Happy!"

Lucy blinked at him a few times over his odd choice of names, "Why Happy?"

Natsu looked to where Happy was currently playing with the corner of a blanket that was hanging off her sofa, "Because he looks so happy right now." He then turned to face Lucy, "And he makes me happy too."

She smiled softly her heart swelling at how sweet he is, "I think it's a great name then."

After Natsu finished eating they decided to watch a movie while waiting hoping they could go buy supplies for Happy when the storm passed. Natsu flopped down on the sofa with his legs stretched out across it and leaned against the corner. Lucy sat down beside him and curled into his chest as they flipped through her Netflix account.

Two movies later the storm was still going strong. Lucy yawned as she sat up from where she was laying in Natsu's arms, "I don't think were going to make it to the store tonight, I am about to pass out."

Natsu yawned also and sat up, "I guess I should just go since the storm doesn't seem like it's going to let up."

Lucy frowned at him, not liking the idea of him driving home in the pouring rain. She thought for a moment before she realized there was a simple solution. Though the idea did make her nervous since it wasn't something they had done before. She began softly chewing her bottom lip and felt a slight blush color her cheeks before softly saying, "You can stay with me."

Natsu quickly swiveled his head to look at her and his attention was immediately drawn down by her lips. "Are you sure?" He asked in a husky voice as his eyes flicked up to meet hers.

She nodded before she reached back behind her to flip the TV off, then she stood up and held out her hand to him. He placed his hand in hers and they walked back together to her bedroom.

The next morning everything was bright and cheerful; not only the weather outside, but also the three occupants of Lucy's apartment. Natsu and Lucy had woken up wrapped in each other's arms to the sound of a hungry cat meowing at the door. After finding something for Happy to eat Lucy decided to make breakfast for her and Natsu also. After they had eaten Lucy and Natsu were cleaning off the dishes when a short knock came from her door.

Lucy turned to look at Natsu wondering if he knew who could be at the door but he just shrugged. With a huff she sat down the plate she was cleaning and went to check the door.

She looked out her peephole and her body stiffened when she saw who had come calling so early on a Sunday morning.

"Who is it?" Natsu yelled from the kitchen.

"My fiancé."


	17. Her Fiancé

Natsu felt his heart stop and the plate he had been drying fall from his now slack grip and clatter into the sink. He stood at the sink trying to make sense of what his girlfriend had just said. With his heart pounding furiously in his chest and clenched hands, he turned and stiffly began to walk into the living room. He saw that Lucy was standing perfectly still, body pressed against the door, eye glued to whoever was outside. "Your what?", he asked in a harsh whisper.

Lucy turned to face him confusion all over her face, "My fiance," she answered. Noticing how petrified Natsu looked she started again, "I guess I shouldn't call him that. What I mean is the man my dad arranged me to marry." She turned back to look out her peephole, "He is standing outside."

Understanding and relief spread throughout Natsu's body, he took a deep breath and relaxed. Of course Lucy hadn't meant she had some secret fiance who was coming to whisk her away on a white horse. Natsu couldn't even believe he had been worried over something like that. Then he realized what it did mean that this man was here, either Jude had sent him or he had come on his own in hopes of getting Lucy to marry him.

Another brisk knock sounded at the door and Natsu watched as Lucy jumped back away from it. "What are you going to do?", he asked.

Lucy stood there for a moment before she slowly raised her hand out towards the door handle, "I guess I am going to see what he wants."

She opened the door to reveal a short round man with red cheeks, and hair that was flattened down the sides of his head then curled tightly just above his ears. "Hello Miss Heartfilia, it is wonderful to see you again after so long," he greeted with a low bow.

Lucy took a step back, "Hello Mr. Junelle." She stopped and studied the man that was still bowing to her for a moment then finally added, "It is unexpected to see you here."

"Please call me Sawarr," he said as he finally lifted his head from his bowing position. He looked first at Lucy, but almost immediately flicked his eyes over towards Natsu. He stared intently at him, before he straightened up and turned his attention back to Lucy. "I am sorry to drop by announced like this, but it has been so long since we last saw each other." He took a closer step towards Lucy, "Forgive me, but I had to see my beautiful bride to be."

In that moment Natsu was sure if he had the ability his head and fists would have lit on fire right then. He quickly crossed the room to stand by Lucy's side and glared down at the man.

Sawarr took a few steps back, "If you are busy I can come back a different time."

Lucy just stared at the man in complete befuddlement, how could he still think that she was going to marry him. She hadn't seen him in a year and half, he must have some inkling that something was off. Unless her father been lying to them about where she was and what she was doing. She was snapped out of her thoughts when she noticed Sawarr start to back up towards the door, "Actually I think you should stay for a little while."

Natsu turned to look at her with wide eyes. He opened his mouth like he was going to protest but Lucy cut him off, "I need to talk to him about my father, and the company."

She then looked back to Sawarr, "Please come in and have a seat." Lucy lead him to a chair and took a seat across from him on her couch. Natsu followed and sat down on the other end with a huff.

Not sure where or how to begin Lucy took a deep breath and asked the simplest question she could, "When is the last time you spoke with my father?"

"My father and I had a meeting with him a few weeks ago," Sawarr answered.

"Did he mention me?", Lucy continued with her questioning.

"Of course," Sawarr answered. "He always talks about you. He apologized for you not being able to attend seeing how you are very busy with college."

So her father had been lying to them. She couldn't believe he really thought he would be able to convince her to marry Sawarr before the Junelles found out something was amiss.

At her silence Sawarr continued, "He is very proud that you are trying to become a writer, just like your mother."

Lucy gasped and beside her she heard Natsu make a noise very akin to a growl. "My father told you that?"

Sawarr noticing how the mood in the room seemed to alter suddenly changed his tone, "Yes your father speaks very highly of you. Although my father and I have wondered why you are never able to come to the meetings, especially the ones that happened over summer and winter break?"

"Is that why you are actually here?", Lucy asked.

"Yes, I want to find out the truth. Why you came to the one meeting where our fathers announced the marriage then we never saw you again." Sawarr answered in a more determined voice.

"You must be a smart guy, can't you figure it out," Natsu interjected.

Lucy turned to chastise her boyfriend for being rude, but Sawarr cut her off, "I assume it is because Miss Heartfilia refused the marriage and ran away, and Jude has been lying to us in hopes that he can convince her to accept one day."

Lucy's head snapped to look at him and for the first time she saw the keen intelligence in his eyes. The ignorance was all act, he already knew Lucy had no intention of marrying him. "You're right," she told him truthfully. "My father sprung the marriage announcement on me. I told him there was no way I could accept, but he refused to budge. So I ran."

Sawarr dropped his head down, and Lucy realized what she said could be construed as very insulting. Trying to not hurt his feelings she added, "I didn't refuse because of you. I would have refused no matter who my dad had chosen, it was the principle of it all. I am not going to allow him to use me as a tool."

He lifted his head and meet her gaze, "I understand. My dad actually surprised me also, but unlike you I agreed."

"Why did you agree?", Natsu asked.

Sawarr's eyes widened, "I would have gained a smart and beautiful wife, and become the head of a company that would have tripled the size of the one my dad worked so hard to build. How could I refuse."

Lucy looked away from him, she felt a little bad that she had denied him all of that.

"But you are still getting the company right?", Natsu asked. "Isn't that why Lucy's dad is trying so hard to get her to marry you now?"

Lucy was about to inform Natsu that there was no way her dad would sign over the company without her unwavering consent to marry, until Sawarr started talking. "You're correct Mr. Heartfilia signed the contract for our company to take over Heartfilia Konzern at the beginning of this summer."

"But why would he do that, it doesn't make any sense?" Lucy could not believe her dad would act so rashly and assume he would be able to convince her to carry through with the arranged marriage.

Sawarr thought for a moment before answering, "I can only assume it is because of his condition."

Lucy froze, "What do you mean condition?"

Sawarr looked at her with an astonished expression, "You mean you don't know?"

"Don't know what, what are you talking about?", Natsu demanded.

Lucy looked back at Sawarr and saw the heartbreaking expression on his face. Lucy had seen this expression before when her father and the doctor's had told her about her mother's illness and that there was nothing they could do. She tried to keep her voice steady as she asked, "What's wrong with my father?"

"I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but your father has a heart disease. The strain from working so hard and a genetic predisposition have weakened his heart." Sawarr looked down at his hands, which were clasped together on his lap. Lucy knew this as the sign that the worse part was still coming. "The doctors do not believe that his heart will last much longer, a few months at the most."

Her dad was going to die and soon.

She felt her body beginning to tremble. Even though she had been fighting with him recently she didn't hate him, she didn't want him to die. She had always held out hope that one day they could reconcile and he would be apart of her life again. If he died all of her family would be gone and she would be alone. Her body began to shake more and she could feel the tears welling up in her eyes, she was going to be alone.

Suddenly arms wrapped around her and she was pulled into a firm but warm embrace. She looked up through the tears and saw Natsu. His compassionate gaze reminded her that even if she lost her last remaining family, she would never be alone again. Her body went lax against his as violent sobs began to wrack through her.

She curled up and cried in Natsu's arms, while he gently brushed his fingers through her hair. It was awhile before she heard Sawarr stand and remembered that he was still there. "I'm sorry," she tried to apologize for ignoring him, as she wiped away tears.

"Don't apologize it is grim news," he said as he stepped towards the door. He looked back over his shoulder with one last sympathetic look, "If I could make one suggestion, it is that you go see him soon before it is too late." With that he walked out out the door leaving Lucy with a hard decision to make.


	18. Heartfilia

Lucy paced back and forth across her living room. It had been a week since Sawarr had told her the news about her father's deteriorating health condition, and she still hadn't been able to come to a decision about visiting him. It wasn't like she didn't want to see him, he was her father and she loved him, she was just afraid if she saw him they would argue again. On the other hand if she waited to long and missed her chance to tell him goodbye, she knew she would regret it for the rest of her life.

"I'm gonna go," she announced. When she was meet with only silence, she whipped her head around to face the sofa. Natsu was leaned over the back with a feather cat toy in hand playing with Happy. They both seemed completely oblivious that she had said anything. She stomped her foot loudly on the ground to get their attention, "Did you hear me? I said I have decided to go."

Natsu scooped up Happy from behind the sofa, then flipped around to face her. "I heard you, it's just this is the fifth time today that you've decided to go and you always change your mind."

He was right she had been wavering all week with this decision. She dropped down next to him on the sofa and reached over to scratch Happy's head. "I know, I'm just worried that if I see him I might make his condition worse."

Natsu clasped his hand around hers and began to rub little circles with his thumb, "If your dad really is as bad as Sawarr said, then I don't think it can get any worse. Plus I am sure he wants to see you, no matter how bad things have gotten between you."

Her eyes meet his and her heart nearly melted at his soft thoughtful gaze. She entwined their fingers and with a deep breath resigned herself to her decision, "I am going to go, and I am not putting it off any longer. I am going tomorrow."

Natsu stood and pulled her up with him, "I think that's for the best, now let's get some sleep before your big day."

 

Lucy had just finished packing a bag for her visit when she heard the front door open. She peeked into her living room to see Natsu walk in, he had insisted on going with her and had rushed to his apartment to pack a bag also. Lucy had given him a key to her apartment the previous week, since she couldn't get him to stop breaking in through the window no matter if she was home or not.

"Natsu, I know I have already said this, but you really don't have to come with me." Lucy knew she was not going to be able to talk him out of going, but she really didn't want to drag him into her family's problems.

Natsu walked over to her, wrapped his arms around her waist, and rested his chin on her shoulder, "Of course I do Lucy. I love you, and I want to be there for you no matter what happens."

Her mind blanked, her body froze in his arms; it felt like her heart stopped beating altogether. Then all at once her heart started slamming in her chest and hundreds of thoughts raced through her brain, the most prevalent one being 'did he really just say that!'.

Natsu Dragneel had just told her he loved her for the first time.

She slowly tilted her head to meet his gaze, "Did you just say that you love me?"

He gently grasped her forearms and held her back so that they were looking directly at each other. He had a slightly confused expression, "Of course weirdo you're my girlfriend."

Lucy wasn't sure if she could be more shocked right now. Well maybe if Happy sprouted wings and started flying around the apartment singing, 'He Looooves you', but that would be complete craziness. Lucy knew they cared for each other deeply, she just hadn't expected him to drop the L bomb on her so casually.

After recovering from her initial shock she fully comprehended that Natsu had just confessed he was in love with her. She felt a burst of warmth and happiness blossom in her chest that radiated throughout her body. She couldn't stop a huge smile from spreading across her face, or her hands from winding around his neck and pulling him down to meet her lips. It was a tender kiss full of warmth and love in which she tried to convey exactly how much he meant to her. Once they finally pulled apart she smiled up at him, "I love you too, Natsu!"

After their confessions they stood staring into each other's eyes with goofy grins plastered across their faces. Lucy knew that she could stand there all day wrapped in Natsu's arms basking in their mutual love, but she had something else important to do today so she pulled away.

"We should get going, it will take a few hours to get to the house" she stated as she turned to grab her bag. "I feel bad about you having to drive the whole way, if you want there is a train we can take?" When she turned back she saw Natsu was bent over, hands covering his mouth, and had a sickly green tint to his face. She dropped her bag, and fell to her knees in front of him. "Natsu what's wrong?" she asked worriedly as she placed her hands on his shoulders.

He looked like he was trying hard not to hurl but managed to squeak out a broken response, "No trains, vehicle's, motion sickness."

His statement caused her confusion how could he get motion sickness from riding in vehicles, "But you drive your car all the time?"

He slowly stood back up, it seemed like the worst of his sudden nausea was over. Although he still looked sickly, "Driving my car is different, I'm in control. Planes, trains, and boats shake too much." As if just thinking about the shaking made him sick he turned green again and had to quickly cover his mouth.

She threw her hands in the air she wasn't sure if she would ever understand how Natsu worked, "That literally makes no sense, but if you are going to hurl by riding the train then I am all for you driving. Now we better go."

 

A few hours later Lucy and Natsu pulled up to the small road that would take them to her father's mansion. With every passing mile Lucy had become more and more nervous about returning. It had been a year and a half since she had run away from her home, from her father, and part of her was screaming that this was a bad idea. She had always feared that if her father had found her and brought her back here she would never be allowed to leave again, she would be forced to marry Sawarr, and live a life she hated. Natsu must have noticed her panicked fidgeting because he placed his hand over hers in a reassuring gesture. She hadn't even realized her heart had been racing, until his presence began to sooth it. She interlaced her fingers with his, closed her eyes and took deep calming breaths.

She knew they had finally arrived at the house when she heard a loud gasp from Natsu. She opened her eyes to find him wide eyed staring at the Heartfilia Mansion, "This is where you grew up?"

A light laugh escaped her, "Yep, it's a little big."

"A little," Natsu repeated in amazement.

She squeezed his hand in encouragement, although it was more to hearten herself. "It's time," she stated as she got out of the car.

She felt odd knocking on the large doorknocker to the house she had grown up in, but she knew it wouldn't be proper for her to just waltz in either. After a few moments she heard muffled voices coming from the other side, the doors flew open, and she was greeted with so many familiar faces. "Miss Heartfilia you have returned," an older women in a maid outfit rejoiced with tears streaming down her face.

"Hello Ms. Spetto, it is wonderful to see you again," Lucy greeted the maid who had helped raise her. She then looked at everyone who had gathered at the door, one of the hardest parts of running away had been leaving behind all the amazing people who had been there for her since childhood. "It is wonderful to see all of you again," she exclaimed as tears burned the backs of her eyes.

"Oh Miss Lucy don't cry," her tutor Bero comforted as he patted her shoulder.

"Yes this is a joyous time, Miss Heartfilia has returned. I shall cook a feast to honor the occasion," the chef Aed beamed as he turned and hurried back into the mansion.

"Come inside Lucy dear. I will take you and your guest up to your room so that you can unpack your bags and rest before dinner," Spetto said as she took their bags and lead Lucy and Natsu inside the house.

As they walked through the halls Lucy was greeted by even more people who were happy to see her return home. Once they reached her room Lucy marveled at how it looked exactly as she had left it. Spetto placed their bags down on a table and turned to leave. "Wait Spetto," Lucy called after her. The maid stopped right as she reached the doors. Lucy had a hard time finding the right words to say especially since everyone seemed so happy she was home, "The reason I am here is to visit my father. I'm sorry, but I'm not staying."

Spetto smiled softly at her, "We know dear, you live in Magnolia and attend the university there."

Lucy opened her mouth to ask how she knew that but quickly closed it. If her father knew where she was and what she was doing then everyone else in the mansion probably did also.

"We are happy that you came to visit, but we are even more happy that you found somewhere that makes you happy," Spetto continued as she glanced over at Natsu. "I will inform your father of your arrival." With that she left the room and closed the door behind her.

After unpacking their bags and giving Natsu a tour of her room, which was larger than her apartment, they were informed that her father was busy and would see her later. Knowing there was no point in arguing, even if she did want to see him right away, she decided to spend their free time showing Natsu her favorite places around the mansion and garden.

When it was time for dinner Lucy and Natsu were ushered into the large formal dining room. Even though the dining table could probably hold twenty only two places were set. "Is my father not dining with us?" Lucy asked Spetto.

Her eyes looked sad, "No dear, your father will be having dinner in his office."

Lucy was not sure how she felt about her father working through another dinner. She was upset that she had come to visit him and he had not even bothered to acknowledge her yet, but at the same time she was sad that after all this time he hadn't changed. At least today she would not be eating alone in the large room.

Throughout dinner Lucy laughed as she was caught up on everything that had been happening around the mansion. In return Lucy told stories of all the great things that happened in her life since she had left. Her father's health was not brought up once.

After dinner Spetto came up to her with the same sadness in her eyes, "I'm sorry Miss Lucy, but your father will not be able to see you this evening."

That was Lucy's breaking point. Maybe in the past she would have accepted anything her father did, but now she was different. She wasn't going to be pushed around like she didn't matter. "No," she snapped. "I came all this way to see him, and I will not be told that he is too busy to see me now." She tore off up the stairs to his office.

A ways behind her Spetto was trying to catch up, "No Miss Lucy you misunderstand," but Lucy was to focused and angry to hear her.

Once she reached his office she lifted her hand to knock on the door, but stopped herself. Knocking and asking permission was something the old Lucy would have done, instead she opened the door and walked in.

What she saw inside made her freeze in her tracks and her breath catch in her throat. In the middle of the room were her father's desk used to overlook the floor length windows was a hospital bed. Surrounding it were humming medical machines and lying in the bed hooked up to them was her father. He was connected to IVs, heart monitors, and so many other things. Lucy knew he was sick, but she hadn't expected this. She hadn't expected to she her once imposing father lying thin and weak in a bed. His skin looked sunken and almost translucent, he had large bags under his eyes, and he had lost to much weight. Her eyes finally meet his. "Lucy I believe I said I wouldn't be able to see you this evening," he spoke in a shell of his once commanding voice.

Lucy had a hard time finding her own voice. Finally she managed to dumbly answer, "I-I didn't want to wait."

"I see," her father remarked. Then he doubled over as a ragged cough ripped from his throat.

Lucy rushed to his side. She wanted to do something to comfort him, but had no idea what she could do. Her hands started to tremble, "I don't...I didn't..." Her whole body started to shake and her eyes began to burn, "I-I knew you were sick, but I didn't know...I didn't want to believe it was this bad." Tears poured from her eyes as the truth of Sawarr's words set in. Her father wouldn't live much longer.

She grasped the bed railing to hold herself up as sobs racked her body. She didn't want to break down in front of her father, but she couldn't control herself. Then she felt a hand smooth down her back trying to comfort her. She looked up and saw that is was her father's. His arm shook with the effort of holding it up, "I didn't want you to see me like this."

She had been so stupid. She thought he had been ignoring her for work, but he actually just didn't want her to see how sick he was. It was just like him to try and hide his weaknesses, even from his own daughter, "But you're my father…."

He cut her off, "I know I should have told you." His eyes looked sad, which was something she had never seen on her father. When her mother had gotten sick and died he had been full of grief. This look was different, he looked almost defeated and very regretful. "I'm sorry Lucy."

She could tell from his tone that he didn't just mean he was sorry for not telling her about his health, but he was sorry and regretted the decisions he had made that drove her away. Seeing him like this broke her heart, but hearing those words from him was something she needed for a long time now. She could feel all the pain and hurt in her heart begin to mend..

For the second time that day Lucy told someone important to her exactly how much they meant to her, "It's okay, I love you dad."

"I love you too Lucy."

 

Lucy and Natsu stayed for the remainder of the weekend. Lucy spent most of her time at her father's bedside. He told her that he had learned about his heart condition about a month after she had run away. He had been worried that if he died the Heartfilia company would be bought out and Lucy would be left with nothing, that is when he hired the private investigator to track her down. Last winter he had his first heart attack. He had come out practically unscathed, but his worry about the company and Lucy's future grew. He started having more talks with the Junelles about Sawarr marrying Lucy and taking over the company.

Finally after a year of looking the P.I. had found that Lucy had enrolled at Magnolia University, all he had to do now was find out where she lived. It was around this time that Jude had his second heart attack, this one did much more damage though. His body started to grow weaker, although sometimes he would recover his strength and have good weeks. It just so happened that during one of his good weeks the P.I. finally found where Lucy lived, Jude immediately set out to meet with her. By this time he was so paranoid about dying and not finishing the deal with the Junelles, that he wouldn't even listen to what Lucy wanted for her own future.

After his failed meeting with Lucy his heart began to give out even more. He found it harder to conduct his business or even leave the house sometimes. Fearing that he would not live much longer he went ahead and signed the contract with the Junelles. Hoping he could get Lucy to agree to the contract and willing to say anything to get her to, he went to visit her again when his body had recovered slightly. At her adamant refusal and the look of pain and hatred in her eyes Jude was pushed over the edge. A few days later he had his third heart attack. This one left his body devastated.

Lucy and Natsu bid her father and everyone else that worked at Heartfilia Mansion goodbye on Sunday afternoon. They had to get back home for pre-finals week, but Lucy promised to come and visit the next weekend. She was so happy that after so much suffering her and her father had been able to talk and laugh together again.

 

The following Tuesday Lucy received a call from Spetto saying that her father had passed away. Lucy cried hard and long while Natsu held her in his arms. The next day they drove somberly back to the Heartfilia Mansion for the funeral, the whole way Lucy thought about all the wonderful and painful memories her and her father had together. It was a small funeral, and he was buried next to Layla. Before she left Sawarr offered for her to come by anytime and visit her parents graves, since the mansion and the company now belong to him. Lucy thanked him for that and for also giving her the opportunity to see her dad one last time and make amends with him.


End file.
